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Infrared metamaterial phase holograms

Nature Materials volume 11, pages 450–454 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

As a result of advances in nanotechnology and the burgeoning capabilities for fabricating materials with controlled nanoscale geometries, the traditional notion of what constitutes an optical device continues to evolve. The fusion of maturing low-cost lithographic techniques with newer optical design strategies has enabled the introduction of artificially structured metamaterials in place of conventional materials for improving optical components as well as realizing new optical functionality. Here we demonstrate multilayer, lithographically patterned, subwavelength, metal elements, whose distribution forms a computer-generated phase hologram in the infrared region (10.6 μm). Metal inclusions exhibit extremely large scattering and can be implemented in metamaterials that exhibit a wide range of effective medium response, including anomalously large or negative refractive index; optical magnetism; and controlled anisotropy. This large palette of metamaterial responses can be leveraged to achieve greater control over the propagation of light, leading to more compact, efficient and versatile optical components.

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Figure 1: Artistic rendering of a section of metamaterial hologram demonstrating the various metamaterial elements used in this work.
Figure 2: Relationship between the dimensions of the metamaterial elements and the real part of their effective refractive index.
Figure 3: Simulated image of the hologram at the focal plane of a lens.
Figure 4: Process flow for the fabrication of the multilayer metamaterial hologram.
Figure 5: Optical and SEM pictures of the hologram.
Figure 6: Images generated by the hologram.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, sponsored by the US Army Research Office (Grant No. W911NF-09-1-0539).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, Box 90291, USA

    Stéphane Larouche, Yu-Ju Tsai, Talmage Tyler, Nan M. Jokerst & David R. Smith

Authors
  1. Stéphane Larouche
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  2. Yu-Ju Tsai
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  3. Talmage Tyler
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  4. Nan M. Jokerst
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  5. David R. Smith
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Contributions

S.L., Y-J.T. and D.R.S. conceived the application of metamaterials for holography and designed the experiment. T.T. and N.M.J. developed the fabrication protocols. Y-J.T. carried out simulations and characterization. T.T. fabricated the sample. S.L. wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Stéphane Larouche or David R. Smith.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Larouche, S., Tsai, YJ., Tyler, T. et al. Infrared metamaterial phase holograms. Nature Mater 11, 450–454 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3278

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