Expanding chiral metamaterials for retrieving fingerprints via vibrational circular dichroism.

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy has been widely demonstrated for detecting chiral molecules. However, the determination of chiral mixtures with various concentrations and enantiomeric ratios can be a challenging task. To solve this problem, we report an enhanced vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) sensing platform based on plasmonic chiral metamaterials, which presents a 6-magnitude signal enhancement with a selectivity of chiral molecules. Guided by coupled-mode theory, we leverage both in-plane and out-of-plane symmetry-breaking structures for chiral metamaterial design enabled by a two-step lithography process, which increases the near-field coupling strengths and varies the ratio between absorption and radiation loss, resulting in improved chiral light-matter interaction and enhanced molecular VCD signals. Besides, we demonstrate the thin-film sensing process of BSA and ß-lactoglobulin proteins, which contain secondary structures α-helix and ß-sheet and achieve a limit of detection down to zeptomole level. Furthermore, we also, for the first time, explore the potential of enhanced VCD spectroscopy by demonstrating a selective sensing process of chiral mixtures, where the mixing ratio can be successfully differentiated with our proposed chiral metamaterials. Our findings improve the sensing signal of molecules and expand the extractable information, paving the way toward label-free, compact, small-volume chiral molecule detection for stereochemical and clinical diagnosis applications.

Modulation bandwidth improvement of III-V/Si hybrid MOS optical modulator by reducing parasitic capacitance.

In this work, we numerically and experimentally examined the impact of parasitic capacitance on the modulation bandwidth of a III-V/Si hybrid metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) optical modulator. The numerical analysis revealed that the parasitic capacitance between the III-V membrane and the Si slab should be considered to achieve high-speed modulation, particularly in the case of a thick gate oxide. We also fabricated a high-speed InGaAsP/Si hybrid MOS optical modulator with a low capacitance using a SiO2-embedded Si waveguide. The fabricated device exhibited a modulation efficiency of 0.245 Vcm and a 3 dB bandwidth of up to 10 GHz. Clear eye patterns with 25 Gbps non-return-to-zero (NRZ) modulation and 40 Gbps 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) were obtained without pre-emphasis.

Miniaturized CO2 Gas Sensor Using 20% ScAlN-Based Pyroelectric Detector.

NDIR CO2 gas sensors using a 10-cm-long gas channel and CMOS-compatible 12% doped ScAlN pyroelectric detector have previously demonstrated detection limits down to 25 ppm and fast response time of ∼2 s. Here, we increase the doping concentration of Sc to 20% in our ScAlN-based pyroelectric detector and miniaturize the gas channel by ∼65× volume with length reduction from 10 to 4 cm and diameter reduction from 5 to 1 mm. The CMOS-compatible 20% ScAlN-based pyroelectric detectors are fabricated over 8-in. wafers, allowing cost reduction leveraging on semiconductor manufacturing. Cross-sectional TEM images show the presence of abnormally oriented grains in the 20% ScAlN sensing layer in the pyroelectric detector stack. Optically, the absorption spectrum of the pyroelectric detector stack across the mid-infrared wavelength region shows ∼50% absorption at the CO2 absorption wavelength of 4.26 µm. The pyroelectric coefficient of these 20% ScAlN with abnormally oriented grains shows, in general, a higher value compared to that for 12% ScAlN. While keeping the temperature variation constant at 2 °C, we note that the pyroelectric coefficient seems to increase with background temperature. CO2 gas responses are measured for 20% ScAlN-based pyroelectric detectors in both 10-cm-long and 4-cm-long gas channels, respectively. The results show that for the miniaturized CO2 gas sensor, we are able to measure the gas response from 5000 ppm down to 100 ppm of CO2 gas concentration with CO2 gas response time of ∼5 s, sufficient for practical applications as the average outdoor CO2 level is ∼400 ppm. The selectivity of this miniaturized CO2 gas sensor is also tested by mixing CO2 with nitrogen and 49% sulfur hexafluoride, respectively. The results show high selectivity to CO2 with nitrogen and 49% sulfur hexafluoride each causing a minimum ∼0.39% and ∼0.36% signal voltage change, respectively. These results bring promise to compact and miniature low cost CO2 gas sensors based on pyroelectric detectors, which could possibly be integrated with consumer electronics for real-time air quality monitoring.

Thermoplasmonic Study of a Triple Band Optical Nanoantenna Strongly Coupled to Mid IR Molecular Mode.

We report the first thermal study of a triple band plasmonic nanoantenna strongly coupled to a molecular mode at mid IR wavelength (MW IR). The hybrid plasmonic structure supports three spatially and spectrally variant resonances of which two are magnetic and one is dipolar in nature. A hybridized mode is excited by coupling the structure's plasmonic mode with the vibrational mode of PMMA at 5.79 µm. Qualitative agreement between the spectral changes in simulation and experiment clearly indicates that resistive heating is the dominant mechanisms behind the intensity changes of the dipolar and magnetic peaks. The study also unveils the thermal insensitivity of the coupled mode intensity as the temperature is increased. We propose a mechanism to reduce the relative intensity change of the coupled mode at elevated temperature by mode detuning and surface current engineering and demonstrate less than 9% intensity variation. Later, we perform a temperature cycling test and investigate into the degradation of the Au-PMMA composite device. The failure condition is identified to be primarily associated with the surface chemistry of the material interface rather than the deformation of the nanopatterns. The study reveals the robustness of the strongly coupled hybridized mode even under multiple cycling.

Realization of Fractal-Inspired Thermoresponsive Quasi-3D Plasmonic Metasurfaces with EOT-Like Transmission for Volumetric and Multispectral Detection in the Mid-IR Region.

We use a paradigmatic mathematic model known as Sierpinski fractal to reverse-engineer artificial nanostructures that can potentially serve as plasmonic metasurfaces as well as nanogap electrodes. Herein, we particularly demonstrate the possibility of obtaining multispectral extraordinary optical transmission-like transmission peaks from fractal-inspired geometries, which can preserve distinct spatial characteristics. To achieve enhanced volumetric interaction and thermal responsiveness within the framework, we consider a bilayer, quasi-three-dimensional (3D) configuration that relies on the unique approach of combining complementary and noncomplementary surfaces, while avoiding the need for multilayer alignment on the nanoscale. We implement an improved version of the model to (1) increase the volume of quasi-3D nanochannels and enhance the lightening-rod effect of the metasurfaces, (2) harness cross-coupling as a mechanism for achieving better sensitivity, and (3) exploit optical magnetism for pushing the resonances to longer wavelengths on a miniaturized platform. We further demonstrate vertical coupling as an effective route for ultimate miniaturization of such quasi-3D nanostructures. We report a wavelength shift up to 1666 nm/refractive index unit and 2.5 nm/°C, implying the usefulness of the proposed devices for applications such as dielectrophoretic sensing and nanothermodynamic study of molecular reactions in the chemically active mid-IR spectrum.

Microelectromechanically tunable multiband metamaterial with preserved isotropy.

We experimentally demonstrate a micromachined reconfigurable metamaterial with polarization independent characteristics for multiple resonances in terahertz spectral region. The metamaterial unit cell consists of eight out-of-plane deformable microcantilevers placed at each corner of an octagon ring. The octagon shaped unit cell geometry provides the desired rotational symmetry, while the out-of-plane movable cantilevers preserves the symmetry at different configurations of the metamaterial. The metamaterial is shown to provide polarization independent response for both electrical inductive-capacitive (eLC) resonance and dipolar resonance at all states of actuation. The proposed metamaterial has a switching range of 0.16 THz and 0.37 THz and a transmission intensity change of more than 0.2 and 0.7 for the eLC and dipolar resonances, respectively for both TE and TM modes. Further optimization of the metal layer thickness, provides an improvement of up to 80% modulation at 0.57 THz. The simultaneously tunable dual band isotropic metamaterial will enable the realization of high performance electro-optic devices that would facilitate numerous terahertz applications such as compressive terahertz imaging, miniaturized terahertz spectroscopy and next generation high speed wireless communication possible in the near future.

Two-dimensional photonic-crystal-based Fabry-Perot etalon.

We demonstrate the design, fabrication, and characterization of a polycrystalline-silicon-based photonic crystal Fabry-Perot etalon, which is aimed to work in the mid-infrared wavelengths. The highly reflective mirrors required in a Fabry-Perot etalon are realized by freestanding polycrystalline-silicon-based photonic crystal membranes with etched circular air holes. A peak reflection of 96.4% is observed at 3.60 µm. We propose a monolithic CMOS-compatible fabrication process to configure two such photonic crystal mirrors to be in parallel to form a Fabry-Perot etalon; a filtered transmission centered at 3.51 µm is observed. The quality factor measured is around 300, which is significantly higher than in existing works. This creates the possibility of using such devices for high-resolution applications such as gas sensing and hyperspectral imaging.

Suspended 2-D photonic crystal aluminum nitride membrane reflector.

We experimentally demonstrated a free-standing two-dimensional (2-D) photonic crystal (PhC) aluminum nitride (AlN) membrane to function as a free space (or out-of-plane) reflector working in the mid infrared region. By etching circular holes of radius 620nm in a 330nm thick AlN slab, greater than 90% reflection was measured from 3.08µm to 3.78µm, with the peak reflection of 96% at 3.16µm. Due to the relatively low refractive index of AlN, we also investigated the importance of employing methods such as sacrificial layer release to enhance the performance of the PhC. In addition, characterization of the AlN based PhC was also done up to 450°C to examine the impact of thermo-optic effect on the performance. Despite the high temperature operation, the redshift in the peak reflection wavelengths of the device was estimated to be only 14.1nm. This equates to a relatively low thermo-optic coefficient 2.22 × 10(-5) K(-1) for AlN. Such insensitivity to thermo-optic effect makes AlN based 2-D PhC a promising technology to be used as photonic components for high temperature applications such as Fabry-Perot interferometer used for gas sensing in down-hole oil drilling and ruggedized electronics.

Fabry-Perot filter using grating structures.

Grating structures are designed at the inner wall of the Fabry-Perot (FP) resonator to enhance the performance of an FP optical filter. The rectangular grating or triangular grating (TG) structures allows the light to be propagated effectively through the FP resonator. Attributed to the grating structures, the spectrum intensity of a FP resonator with grating structures is calculated to be 4.5-fold higher than that of a FP resonator with slot. In addition, the Q-factor of the resonant peak for a FP resonator with hybrid TG structure and two slots is 9.5-fold and 4.7-fold higher than that of a FP resonator with one slot and TG configurations, respectively.