Metamaterial optical performance enhanced by nanocrystals
The emission of light from and capture of light by metamaterials can be enhanced with the use of light emitting nanocrystals, according to research conducted by the City College of New York, along with scientists from the University of Alberta and Purdue University. The work is believed to have application in ultrafast LEDs, nanoscale lasers and single photon sources.
The team used metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion to enhance the light emission properties of the nanocrystals and simultaneously engineered an efficient light extraction scheme.
"The idea of metamaterials in the context of optics is that you can manipulate light and decide how you want it to behave in this medium," said City College photonics expert Professor Vinod Menon.
Enhancement in light emission from metamaterials has been demonstrated in the past by several groups, but the results were said to not be useful since light was not emitted readily. The latest work is said to overcome this issue and to take the first step towards practical metamaterial based light emitters.
"We've shown both an increase in light emission and [the ability] to extract light," added Prof Menon.
