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Hyperbolic metamaterials for dispersion-assisted directional light emission.
Lorenzo Ferrari1, Joseph Stephen Thomas Smalley, Yeshaiahu Fainman
1Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0418, USA. zhaowei@ucsd.edu.
Nanoscale
|June 23, 2017
Summary
A new method uses dispersion engineering to extract waves from hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) without gratings. This allows efficient top or side power extraction, enabling cost-effective HMM optical transmitters.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Metamaterials
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) exhibit unique optical properties.
- Outcoupling high spatial frequency (large-k) waves from HMMs typically requires gratings.
- Efficient light extraction is crucial for HMM-based optical devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel grating-free method for outcoupling large-k waves from HMMs.
- To enable preferential power extraction from the top or side of HMMs.
- To demonstrate the potential for cost-effective HMM optical transmitters.
Main Methods:
- Dispersion engineering of HMMs.
- Analysis of multilayer (ML) and nanowire HMM structures.
- Simulation of power extraction for a dipole-HMM system.
Main Results:
- A grating-free outcoupling method based solely on dispersion engineering is demonstrated.
- Multilayer HMMs facilitate lateral outcoupling, while nanowire HMMs are suitable for top outcoupling.
- A 6-fold increase in laterally extracted power is predicted for an optimized Ag/Si ML HMM at 530 nm.
Conclusions:
- Dispersion engineering offers a versatile approach for controlling wave outcoupling from HMMs.
- The proposed method allows for selective power extraction, enhancing device functionality.
- This design concept paves the way for high-speed, mass-producible HMM optical transmitters.
