OP: Enabling High-Temperature Photonic Technologies with Plasmonic Ceramics

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

Nontechnical Description: Plasmonics has demonstrated a unique capability to bridge photonics and electronics and enable nanoscale devices for applications in imaging, sensing, data storage, and light harvesting that are efficient, compact, and multifunctional. However most of the demonstrated plasmonic systems fall short in meeting the unique challenges of harsh environments, particularly high temperatures, faced by chemical and oil/gas industries, aerospace, defense, etc. This project aims to discover and realize robust, ultra-compact, chip-compatible, nanoscale optical devices using plasmonic ceramic materials that operate at high temperatures and exhibit high durability. This interdisciplinary effort is expected to have a significant impact both in the fundamental science of optics and optical materials as well as in optical, terahertz and microwave technologies and to generate significant industry interest and start-up possibilities. Integrated in this project are student education, outreach activities, and the development of materials illustrating the unique properties of plasmonic materials and devices. Specifically, the research team develops an online "book" on refractory ceramics that would provide temperature dependence of the optical properties, as well as fabrication protocol and major applications. An online "book," a learning module, simulation tools and tutorials are created and made available to the global nanophotonics research and educational community via nanoHUB.org. Technical Description: Plasmonic structures have been historically designed in the physics and electrical engineering communities based on room-temperature experimental data and the corresponding phenomenological models of bulk noble metals at room temperature. This project is designed to overcome application-specific drawbacks associated with the use of metals as building blocks of nanoscale functional plasmonic devices by replacing metals with robust, refractory plasmonic ceramic materials, particularly transition metal nitrides (TiN, ZrN, and HfN). The properties of these materials at high temperatures and their usage for plasmonic devices for applications under extreme environments are studied experimentally and via numerical simulations. The research subjects include investigation of optical properties of transition metal nitrides, in both thin-film and nanostructured forms; high-temperature stability and metal-dielectric phase transitions; and surface/interface phenomena of composites. In addition, an online handbook of refractory plasmonic ceramics is created to benefit the nanophotonics research and educational community.