Self-assembled nitride-metal nanocomposites: recent progress and future prospects

Two-phase nanocomposites have gained significant research interest because of their multifunctionalities, tunable geometries and potential device applications. Different from the previously demonstrated oxide-oxide 2-phase nanocomposites, coupling nitrides with metals shows high potential for building alternative hybrid plasmonic metamaterials towards chemical sensing, tunable plasmonics, and nonlinear optics. Unique advantages, including distinct atomic interface, excellent crystalline quality, large-scale surface coverage and durable solid-state platform, address the high demand for new hybrid metamaterial designs for versatile optical material needs. This review summarizes the recent progress on nitride-metal nanocomposites, specifically targeting bottom-up self-assembled nanocomposite thin films. Various morphologies including vertically aligned nanocomposites (VANs), self-organized nanoinclusions, and nanoholes fabricated by additional chemical treatments are introduced. Starting from thin film nucleation and growth, the prerequisites of successful strain coupling and the underlying growth mechanisms are discussed. These findings facilitate a better control of tunable nanostructures and optical functionalities. Future research directions are proposed, including morphological control of the secondary phase to enhance its homogeneity, coupling nitrides with magnetic phase for the magneto-optical effect and growing all-ceramic nanocomposites to extend functionalities and anisotropy.