The massive exploitation of metamaterials at the nanoscale has cause a leap in controlling light-matter interactions, bringing forward a manifold of entirely new functionalities. Traditionally the design of metamaterials has been inspired by the assembly of subwavelength spaced building blocks, which control their optical properties.
In this study, we are into introducing a new class of optical materials based on nano-sized metallic networks. The key design principle is a sub-wavelength network with functional connectivity in analogy to other robust networks, such as the internet.
These materials are prepared by dealloying, an elegant etching technique which allows to structure large areas in a fast and cost-effective fashion. Using theory and experiments, we demonstrate that network metamaterials harbor unexpected physical properties, which are deterministically controlled in the optical regime by changing the metamaterial’s connectivity and originate in regions that are only a few nanometer in size.
Reference:
Light Manipulation in Metallic Nanowire Networks with Functional Connectivity
Henning Galinski, Andrea Fratalocchi, Max Döbeli and Federico Capasso
Advanced Optical Materials (2016), 1600580; doi: 10.1002/adom.201600580, PDF