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MANHASSET, NY -- Researchers at Purdue University have shown how tocreate metamaterials without the traditional silver or goldpreviously required for creating optical metamaterials. The Purdue researchers replaced the metals with an aluminum-dopedzinc oxide (AZO). "This means we can have a completely new materialplatform for creating optical metamaterials, which offers importantadvantages," Alexandra Boltasseva, a Purdue University assistantprofessor of electrical and computer engineering. Boltasseva said,in a statement. "The doped oxide brings not only enhancedperformance but also is compatible with semiconductors. The research team developed a new metamaterial consisting of 16layers alternating between AZO and zinc oxide. Light passing fromthe zinc oxide to the AZO layers encounters an "extremeanisotropy," causing its dispersion to become "hyperbolic," whichdramatically changes the light's behavior. The researchers doped zinc oxide with aluminum which caused it tobehave like a metal at certain wavelengths and like a dielectric atother wavelengths. Using the silver and gold metals is impractical because of highcost and incompatibility with semiconductor manufacturingprocesses. The metals do not transmit light efficiently, causingmuch of it to be lost. "The doped oxide brings not only enhanced performance but also iscompatible with semiconductors," Boltasseva said. The AZO also makes it possible to "tune" the optical properties ofmetamaterials, an advance that could hasten theircommercialization. "This could actually lead to a whole new family of devices that canbe tuned or switched," Boltasseva said. "AZO can go from dielectricto metallic. So at one specific wavelength, at one applied voltage,it can be metal and at another voltage it can be dielectric. Thiswould lead to tremendous changes in functionality." "We anticipate that the development of these new plasmonicmaterials and nanostructured material composites will lead totremendous progress in the technology of optical metamaterials,"remarked Boltasseva. The research paper was partly authored by Boltasseva, and othersincluding Vladimir M. Shalaev, scientific director of nanophotonicsat Purdue's Birck Nanotechnology Center, a distinguished professorof electrical and computer engineering and a scientific adviser forthe Russian Quantum Center. The research work has been funded in part by the U.S. Office ofNaval Research, National Science Foundation and Air Force Office ofScientific Research. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Portable Solar Charger Manufacturer , Wireless Remote Key Finder, and more. For more , please visit UV Light Tester today!
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