Abstract
AbstractHyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) offer unconventional properties in the field of optics, enabling opportunities for confinement and propagation of light at the nanoscale. In‐plane orientation of the optical axis, in the direction coinciding with the anisotropy of the HMMs, is desirable for a variety of novel applications in nanophotonics and imaging. Here, a method for creating localized HMMs with in‐plane optical axis, based on block copolymer (BCP) blend instability, is introduced. The dewetting of BCP thin film over topographically defined substrates generates droplets composed of highly ordered lamellar nanostructures in hierarchical configuration. The hierarchical nanostructures represent a valuable platform for the subsequent pattern transfer into a Au/air HMM, exhibiting hyperbolic behavior in a broad wavelength range in the visible spectrum. A computed Purcell factor as high as 32 at 580 nm supports the strong reduction in the fluorescence lifetime of defects in nanodiamonds placed on top of the HMM.
Highlights
In the last decades, the fast development of nanofabrication techniques has progressively enabled a fine and precise control of the material properties
Dewetting Process on Unpatterned Substrate Blending block copolymers (BCPs) with low molecular weight homopolymers enhances the lateral ordering of self-assembled nanometric features up to one order of magnitude higher compared to unblended BCP.[28,43]
The stochastic nature of the dewetting process induced in unstable BCP blends generates droplets with a great variety of contours and dimensions randomly arranged on a flat substrate (Figure 1a)
Summary
The fast development of nanofabrication techniques has progressively enabled a fine and precise control of the material properties. Single-photon sources (SPSs) placed in proximity of these materials suffer from a low photon extraction decay rate despite the sensible enhancement of their spontaneous emission This is determined by the poor coupling efficiency with the guided modes of nanofibers or waveguides, limiting as a consequence the feasibility of more complex HMM-based on-chip photonic devices and circuitries.[13,14] Recently, it has been theoretically demonstrated that the on-chip photon extraction of SPSs can be enhanced by properly tilting the optical axis of the HMM with respect to the normal vector of the end-facet of a waveguide.[15] In order to validate the theoretical predictions, it is required the fabrication of HMMs in which the anisotropy axis lays in the in-plane orientation.
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