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Guided-Mode-Resonant Colorimetric Metasurfaces for All-Optical and Nondestructive Structural Characterization of
Paula Kirya1, Justin D Hochberg2, Han Sol Kim2
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States.
Nano Letters
|June 20, 2025
Summary
Metasurface-enhanced polymeric alignment detection (Meta-PAD) offers a new, non-destructive way to measure fiber alignment. This optical method uses colorimetric metasurfaces to quantify molecular and bulk alignment in nanofibers.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Optical Engineering
Background:
- Metasurfaces enhance sensing by amplifying optical responses to weak signals.
- Guided-mode resonances in metasurfaces provide high sensitivity to light polarization and intensity.
- Characterizing fibrous material alignment often requires destructive methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce metasurface-enhanced polymeric alignment detection (Meta-PAD) for characterizing poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofiber alignment.
- To develop a non-destructive, all-optical method for quantifying molecular and bulk alignment.
- To demonstrate the use of polarization-tunable, guided-mode-resonant colorimetric metasurfaces.
Main Methods:
- Interfacing PCL nanofibers (0%, 400%, 900% draw ratios) with colorimetric metasurfaces.
- Utilizing Stokes polarimetry to confirm resonance overlap between metasurfaces and nanofibers.
- Measuring alignment-specific nanofiber reflectivity and colorimetric enhancement.
Main Results:
- Strongest colorimetric enhancement observed when metasurface and nanofiber resonances coincided.
- Enhancement degree directly correlated with molecular and bulk alignment levels.
- Results validated against differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy.
Conclusions:
- Meta-PAD provides a quantitative, all-optical, and non-destructive measurement of nanofiber alignment.
- This technique offers an alternative to traditional destructive characterization methods.
- Metasurface technology enables precise optical quantification of material structural properties.
