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Published on: November 30, 2012
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Electrically tunable graded photonic crystal lens based on graphene plasmons
Chenglong Wang1, Xiang Guo2, Xidong Wu3
1College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
Scientific Reports
|October 31, 2024
Summary
We developed an electrically tunable graphene lens that can switch between Maxwell
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Optics
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Controlling surface plasmon polariton (SPP) properties is crucial for active transformation optics.
- Graphene's tunable chemical potential offers a platform for dynamic optical devices.
- Existing effective medium theories (EMT) have limitations in accurately describing photonic crystals (PCs).
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and investigate an electrically tunable 2D Graded Photonic Crystal (GPC) lens using graphene.
- To demonstrate the continuous transformation between Maxwell's fish-eye and Luneburg lenses by tuning graphene's chemical potential.
- To introduce and validate a Generalized Effective Medium Theory (GEMT) for accurate PC homogenization.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a graphene monolayer in a back-gated structure with nano-patterned gate insulators.
- Electrical tuning of graphene's chemical potential via gate voltage to control SPP mode index.
- Development and application of GEMT for characterizing the GPC lens, validated against rigorous eigenvalue solutions.
Main Results:
- The graphene GPC lens can be continuously transformed between Maxwell's fish-eye and Luneburg lens configurations.
- This transformation is achieved by operating graphene in its nonlinear chemical potential region and tuning the gate voltage.
- GEMT shows improved accuracy compared to conventional EMT for PC homogenization.
Conclusions:
- The proposed graphene GPC lens offers a novel approach for on-chip light manipulation with electrical tunability.
- The study validates the feasibility of dynamic transformation optics using graphene-based photonic devices.
- GEMT provides a more accurate theoretical framework for designing such nanostructured optical devices.
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