Active hyperbolic metamaterials: Progress, materials and design

Li Lu, Robert Edward Simpson*, Sreekanth Kandammathe Valiyaveedu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) are a special class of metamaterials that exhibit a hyperbolic dispersion relation. Hyperbolic dispersion is rarely observed in natural materials as it typically requires nanostructured composites with constituent materials having both positive and negative electric permittivity or magnetic permeability tensors. In this article, we review the physics of HMMs, present their most common practical designs, explain how their design affects the frequency band where hyperbolic dispersion occurs, and introduce the common fabrication methods. We believe that active and reprogrammable HMMs, which have a dispersion relation that can be dynamically controlled, will be the next phase of the HMM development. Therefore, a substantial portion of this review is devoted to materials that can enable active tuning of the hyperbolic dispersion relation. We also review applications of HMMs, such as sub-wavelength imaging, spontaneous emission enhancement, focussing, biosensing and thermal emission engineering. Finally, we discuss how HMMs need to be further developed and the limitations that need to be overcome for HMMs make a real technological impact.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103001
JournalJournal of Optics (United Kingdom)
Volume20
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Sept 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are grateful for funding support from the Temasek Laboratories seed grant ‘Tuneable Hyperbolic Metamaterials for Single Photon Source Applications’. Li Lu is grateful to the Singapore Ministry of Education for his PhD scholarship.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Keywords

  • active photonics
  • hyperbolic metamaterials
  • nanophotonics
  • phase change materials
  • plasmonics
  • spontaneous emission
  • tuneable hyperbolic metamaterials

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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