Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2023 - 40

Optics
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Researchers at Penn State and Sandia National Laboratories optimized and
fabricated this design for a metamaterial building block that could enable
more efficient optical devices. (Image: Lei Kang.)
providing an additional degree of freedom for developing functional
materials, required a higher computational load. The researchers
at Penn State also had to account for fabrication limitations.
A simpler design would be easier to make but potentially
deficient in function, while a complex design that performs ideally
could be impractical or impossible to construct at the nanoscale.
In a recommendation engineered to meet these challenges, the
optimizer simulated many arrangements of connected gold particles
on the inside of a cube-shaped unit cell's walls, targeting those
that best supported robust asymmetric transmission of linearly polarized
light across a wide frequency range.
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories fabricated the optimized
design, constructing many nanoscopic unit cells with cubeshaped
cavities atop a silicon nitride base. A gold pattern was then
stenciled and deposited onto two inside walls of each unit cell.
The Sandia team then tested the sample material by illuminating
it with linearly polarized light. They found that the design performed
as well as its computationally optimized and simulated
counterpart, resulting in asymmetric transmission of the light
across a wide range of frequencies.
This behavior made the design promising for use in optic isolators,
according to Sawyer Campbell, assistant research professor of
electrical engineering. " Optical isolators control and transmit light
in only one direction, like a diode in an electrical circuit, " he said.
" These components are extremely important in telecommunications,
control systems, and other areas. "
The researchers said they aim to continue developing metamaterials
using their optimization techniques and a variety of fabrication
methods.
" Creating more complicated 3D structures would allow us to
expand on these findings, " Kang said. " New combinations of
our advanced optimization methods and state-of-the-art 3D fabrication
techniques could further propel the optical capabilities
of metamaterials. "
For more information, contact College of Engineering
Media Relations at communications@engr.psu.edu.
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Tech Briefs, August 2023
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Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2023

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