Magnetic, chemical and electrical steering of light at the nanoscale

Optics that can be changed in real time is set to revolutionize the broadest set of technologies from the ultrafast optical data processing and storage to the augmented/mixed reality and optical ranging in self-driving vehicles. However, what nature developed over the millions of years of evolution as a human eye, able to dynamically change the focal distance combined with fast vergence, represents a largely unresolved technological challenge. Currently available means to dynamically tune the optics are either bulky and often extremely challenging to integrate, or intrinsically slow.

While the scaling down of optics is realized by nanophotonics, several approaches have been explored so far to reach the dynamic tunability, including mechanical deformation, thermal or refractive index effects, and all-optical non-linearities. We combine plasmonic and magnetic materials to devise various nano-optical systems that are controlled by the external magnetic field. These include chiral optics and biological/chemical sensors. The latest advances are to control the structure of such antennas by the externally-applied electrical bias or to control the light scattering by combining nanoantennas and externally-actuated liquid crystal elastomers.

I will discuss the various low-cost bottom-up nanofabrication methods that we develop to produce and transfer at will large surfaces with nanosized elements that can be used in nanophotovoltaics, thermal management, biophysics and other fields.