The combined group of Russian physicists has developed a conceptually new platform based on hybrid metal-dielectric nano-antennas, which opens up the possibility for effective light control and super-dense recording of information. The new technology opens up the possibility of manufacturing nanochips for next-generation optical computers and allows you to create a wide range of optical nanodevices localizing, amplifying and controlling photons of light.
Research results published April 27 in the scientific journal
AdvancedMaterials .
Nanoantenna - a device capable of localizing (compressing) a freely propagating light wave to several tens of nanometers. Such compression opens up possibilities for efficient control of light at the nano-level and allows us to consider nano-antennas as a variant of the basic element of a new-generation optical computer that uses photons to process, store and transmit information.
')
Attempts by the scientific community to create a workable planar array of tunable hybrid nanoantennas, which allow directed manipulations with light, until the last moment, did not bring the desired results. The combined research team of the Department of Nanophotonics and Metamaterials
at ITMO University , their colleagues from
St. Petersburg Academic University and the
Joint Institute for High Temperatures in Moscow managed not only to develop a technology for creating arrays of hybrid nanoantennas, but also to demonstrate a new efficient method of fine-tuning individual nanoantennas as part of such arrays . It was possible to achieve a similar result by going through two successive stages: using the technology of lithography and, afterwards, selectively influencing the “semi-finished product” with a femtosecond laser.
Micrograph of the process of changing the shape of gold particles (right)
In the course of the experiment, scientists found that the resulting hybrid nano-antennas are promising from the point of view of optical recording of information with ultrahigh density. And that's why. Existing optical discs make it possible to record information with a density of about 10 Gbit / sq. inch, that is, one pixel per several hundred nanometers. The recording density of information using the obtained hybrid nanoantennas is about the same, but it was proposed to use color markers in the entire visible range as an additional information parameter. And this will already significantly increase the information capacity of the carrier.
Among the many useful uses of hybrid modifiable nanoantennas are the creation of new meta-surfaces, waveguides, as well as compact sensors that provide environmental monitoring of the environment. The opportunities opened up by the development now allow us to concentrate on mastering new promising areas for their use.
Simplified, the “basic” design of the nanoantenna can be represented as a pair of nanoparticles — a truncated silicon cone and a gold disk located on top. By changing the shape of the upper nanoparticle with a laser without changing the lower (silicon) one can change the optical properties of the nano-antenna almost instantaneously and in the right direction.
“Our technology allows you to rebuild the optical properties of nanoantennas by selective laser melting of gold particles, since it depends on the intensity of the laser effect whether the gold particle remains a disk, turns into a cup or takes the form of a ball. This technique allows for a fraction of a second to get a hybrid functional nanostructure with the desired properties, ”explains Sergey Makarov, one of the authors of the development, deputy head of the Department of Dielectric Nanophotonics, Department of Nanophotonics and Metamaterials, ITMO University.
Examples of hybrid nanoantennas of various shapes and properties
The principal advantage of the new method over conventional heating is the ability to configure individual nanoantennas in the array, to control the optical properties of the entire hybrid nanostructure with high accuracy and within wide limits. “In our proposed concept of an asymmetric hybrid nanoantenna, we combined two, as previously thought, alternative directions to each other: plasmonics and dielectric nanophotonics. Our hybrid nanostructures inherited their advantages — localization and amplification of light at the nanoscale, low optical losses, and the ability to control the radiation pattern. In turn, the use of laser melting allows you to accurately and quickly change the optical properties of such structures and, in the long run, record information with extremely high density, ”concludes Dmitry Zuev, project leader, researcher at the ITMO University Nanofingony and Metamaterials Department.
AdvancedMaterials
Dmitry A. Zuev, Sergey V. Makarov, Pavel A. Belov, et al., “Fabrication of Hybrid Nanostructures via Nanoscale Laser-Induced Reshaping for Advanced Light Manipulation.”
That's all, with you there was a simple service for choosing sophisticated
Dronk.Ru equipment. Do not forget to subscribe to our
blog , there will be many more interesting things.
LetyShops cashback service
sponsor . Return money for any purchases on the Internet. Read more about what a cashback service is in our article.
We choose a cashback service for the 6th anniversary of Aliexpress.