Monodisperse silicon nanocavities and photonic crystals with magnetic response in the optical region

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the magnetic component of light has a minor role in the lightmatter interaction. The recent discovery of metamaterials has broken this traditional understanding, as both the electric and the magnetic field are key ingredients in metamaterials. The top-down technology used so far employs noble metals with large intrinsic losses. Here we report on a bottom-up approach for processing metamaterials based on suspensions of monodisperse full dielectric silicon nanocavities with a large magnetic response in the near-infrared region. Experimental results and theory show that siliconcolloid-based liquid suspensions and photonic crystals made of two-dimensional arrays of particles have strong magnetic response in the near-infrared region with small optical losses. Our findings might have important implications in the bottom-up processing of large-area low-loss metamaterials working in the near-infrared region.

Laser printing of silicon nanoparticles with resonant optical electric and magnetic responses

“…Unique optical properties of silicon nanoparticles cannot be exploited and used without a simple method for their controlled fabrication. Chemical methods 10,21,22 , plasma synthesis 23 and laser ablation in air or liquids 17,24,25 can produce silicon nanoparticles with sizes in a broad range (from nm to mm), but without possibilities of the required size control and precise deposition of these nanoparticles. Lithographic methods 26 are more complex and do not allow the fabrication of spherical nanoparticles.…”

Near-infrared trapped mode magnetic resonance in an all-dielectric metamaterial

“…Recently, the Mie resonances of dielectric particles have been proposed as a platform for the engineering of magnetic resonances [16][17][18][19][20][21], and on this basis magnetic responses have been experimentally realized in metamaterials and photonic crystals fabricated from high permittivity dielectrics such as titanium dioxide and germanium, at microwave and terahertz frequencies [22][23][24] and more recently in the infrared/optical range [25][26][27]. Here we experimentally demonstrate another mechanism via which strong visible and near-infrared resonances can be achieved in purely dielectric metamaterials: A magnetic resonance akin to the well-known `trapped mode' of metallic asymmetric split ring (ASR) structures [28] is realized through a coupling between closely spaced, dissimilar dielectric nano-bars within the metamaterial unit cell [29].…”

All-silicon spherical-Mie-resonator photodiode with spectral response in the infrared region

“…In particular, spherical semiconductor microcavities can be a good platform for processing such resonant photodiodes. Very recently, several groups have developed silicon colloids 12,13 that, owing to their perfect spherical topology, sustain well-defined high-Q Mie resonances allowing the development of optical microcavities 12 , and metamaterials 14 .…”