Ultrathin planar lenses based on supersurfaces or metamaterials have shown a lot of promise as a component of nano-optical systems in recent years. Their ability to control light in the subwavelength range is unmatched by conventional refractive optics. Because of their high refractive index, two-dimensional (2D) materials are an appealing option for approaching the boundaries of atomic thinness. Alfa Chemistry can provide unique 2D material solutions to meet customer needs. Contact us today so we can help you with your ultrathin lenses application research.
2D Materials for Ultrathin Lenses
In nano-optics and on-chip photonic devices, ultra-thin planar lenses capable of focusing light energy with little aberration have gotten a lot of interest. A single layer of atoms is the ultimate thickness limit for a planar lens, which can be reached using single-layer 2D materials.
Due to their strong light-matter interactions generated by 2D quantum confinement, 2D layered materials such as graphene and transition metal disulfides (TMDCs) MX2, where M is a transition metal atom (Mo, W, etc.) and X is a sulfur atom (S, Se, or Te), have been extensively studied as candidates for next-generation nanophotonic devices.
Furthermore, monolayer TMDCs' unique optical features, such as their extremely high refractive index in the visible range, can be exploited to make planar lenses. Planar lenses based on 200 nm thick graphene oxide (GO) sheets can achieve efficient three-dimensional (3D) focusing and good resolution due to the considerable refractive index and absorption modulation of laser-reduced GO.
Alfa Chemistry is a leader in 2D materials research, and we offer a wide selection of 2D materials and unique services to help you with your ultrathin lenses research.
Optical Methods for Support
When material thickness is decreased to the sub-nanometer level, poor lens performance might result from insufficient phase or amplitude modulation based on the material's inherent refractive index and absorption. As Alfa Chemistry's solution to these challenges, 2D materials are combined with optical modification methods to provide stable lens media.
Fig 2. (a) Schematic of femtosecond laser fabrication of a monolayer TMDC lens. Inset: (i) AFM image of a monolayer TMDC single crystal, and (ii) STEM image of the monolayer TMDC single crystal. (b) Schematic of femtosecond laser-induced generation of MOx nanoparticles. (Lin H, et al. 2020)
For turning 2D monolayers into ultrathin planar lenses, we use a flexible technique. Femtosecond laser direct writing is applied to generate a localized scattering medium within the monolayer, overcoming the long-term challenge of obtaining sufficient phase or amplitude modulation in atomically thin 2D materials. We shape the lens structure in monolayer TMDC crystals using direct femtosecond laser writing by locally generating significantly scattered incident light to create nanoparticles with the required amplitude and phase modulation. Subwavelength resolution and diffraction-limited images are used to create effective 3D focusing. The high focusing performance even allows diffraction-limited imaging at different focal positions with different magnifications.
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Reference
- Lin H, et al. (2020). "Diffraction-Limited Imaging with Monolayer 2D Material-Based Ultrathin Flat Lenses." Light: Science & Applications. 9: 137.
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