Adaptive Gap-Tunable Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.

Gap plasmon (GP) resonance in static surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) structures is generally too narrow and not tunable. Here, we present an adaptive gap-tunable SERS device to selectively enhance and modulate different vibrational modes via active flexible Au nanogaps, with adaptive optical control. The tunability of GP resonance is up to ∼1200 cm-1 by engineering gap width, facilitated by mechanical bending of a polyethylene terephthalate substrate. We confirm that the tuned GP resonance selectively enhances different Raman spectral regions of the molecules. Additionally, we dynamically control the SERS intensity through the wavefront shaping of excitation beams. Furthermore, we demonstrate simulation results, exhibiting the mechanical and optical properties of a one-dimensional flexible nanogap and their advantage in high-speed biomedical sensing. Our work provides a unique approach for observing and controlling the enhanced chemical responses with dynamic tunability.

Near-maximum microwave absorption in a thin metal film at the pseudo-free-standing limit.

Electromagnetic absorbers based on ultra-thin metallic film are desirable for many applications such as plasmonics, metamaterials, and long-wavelength detectors. A metallic film will achieve a maximum 50% of electromagnetic wave absorption, frequency independent, at a thickness defined by its conductivity, typically in the sub-Angstrom range for good metals if bulk conductivity is maintained throughout. This makes it extremely difficult to obtain substantial absorption from thin metal films, in contrast to 2D materials such as graphene. Luckily, however, from a practical point of view, metal conductivity is drastically reduced as the film becomes sub-100 nm, to make it a race between the thinnest possible metal thickness experimentally achievable vs the conductivity reduction. Here, we demonstrate a near-50% absorption at a gold film thickness of 6.5 nm, with conductivity much reduced from the bulk value, down to the range of 106 Siemens per meter. Studying the effect of the substrate thickness, we found that the common cover glass, with its thickness much smaller than the wavelength, achieves symmetric absorption of 44%, implying that a pseudo-free-standing limit is achieved. Our work may find applications in infrared sensing as in bolometers and biomedical sensing using microwaves.

Topology-Changing Broadband Metamaterials Enabled by Closable Nanotrenches.

One of the most straightforward methods to actively control optical functionalities of metamaterials is to apply mechanical strain deforming the geometries. These deformations, however, leave symmetries and topologies largely intact, limiting the multifunctional horizon. Here, we present topology manipulation of metamaterials fabricated on flexible substrates by mechanically closing/opening embedded nanotrenches of various geometries. When an inner bending is applied on the substrate, the nanotrench closes and the accompanying topological change results in abrupt switching of metamaterial functionalities such as resonance, chirality, and polarization selectivity. Closable nanotrenches can be embedded in metamaterials of broadband spectrum, ranging from visible to microwave. The 99.9% extinction performance is robust, enduring more than a thousand bending cycles. Our work provides a wafer-scale platform for active quantum plasmonics and photonic application of subnanometer phenomena.

Efficient Control of THz Transmission of PEDOT:PSS with Resonant Nano-Metamaterials.

Nano-metamaterials designed to operate at a certain resonance frequency enhance the magnitude of terahertz (THz) wave transmission by three orders of magnitude or even more. In this pursuit, controlling magnitude of resonant transmission and tuning the resonance frequency is increasingly important for application in low power THz electronics and devices. THz optical properties of chemically doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) have been studied, however its effect on the THz transmission properties in combination with nano-metamaterials have not yet been demonstrated. Here we demonstrate the efficient control over resonant THz transmission and tuning of resonance frequency of different nano-metamaterials using PEDOT:PSS, without any toxic chemical doping. By ease of simple solution processing with single step and drop-casting 10 µL aqueous solution of PEDOT:PSS on different nano-metamaterials with varied concentrations, we were able to dynamically control the THz transmission along with resonance frequency. This dynamic control of transmission and shift in resonance frequency can be attributed to improved conductivity of PEDOT:PSS and its interaction with strongly localized THz field of the metamaterial.