Electromagnetic heating-assisted metasurface for stably tunable, fast-responding chiroptics

Area of Science:

• Metasurfaces
• Optoelectronics
• Nanophotonics

Background:

• Chiroptics is crucial for applications like chiral sensing and polarization control.
• Existing tunable chiroptical devices often suffer from slow response times or limited tunability.
• Metasurfaces offer a promising platform for miniaturized and efficient optical components.

Purpose of the Study:

• To theoretically investigate and numerically demonstrate a graphene-dielectric metasurface for tunable chiroptics.
• To achieve stable and fast tunability of chiroptical properties.
• To explore the use of graphene as an integrated heating source for rapid thermal control.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing the thermo-optical effect of silicon in a graphene-dielectric metasurface.
• Investigating the linear scaling of circular dichroism (CD) peak position with temperature.
• Employing a graphene layer as a rapid heating source through electrical input.

Main Results:

• Achieved a spectral sensitivity of 0.06 nm/K for CD peak position tuning.
• Demonstrated precise spectral manipulation with a slight temperature variation of ~0.8 K.
• Showcased ultra-fast thermal generation using graphene, reaching 550 K in 10 µs with 2 V input.

Conclusions:

• The developed graphene-dielectric metasurface offers stable and fast tunable chiroptical functionalities.
• The integrated graphene heating system enables rapid thermal control for dynamic optical responses.
• This platform holds significant potential for advanced applications in functional chiroptics and optoelectronics.