Fabrication and Characterization of Thin Film Multilayer and Nanowire Metamaterials

• Author / Creator

  Atkinson, Jonathan C

• Metamaterials are artificially nano engineered materials with unique electromagnetic properties. They have applications in wave guiding, sensing, imaging, thermal, and quantum optics. Recently, metamaterials have been proposed as optical elements such as polarizers, analyzers, and diffraction gratings for on-chip photonic circuits. This thesis focuses on the design and characterization of 2D nanowire and 1D multilayer metamaterials for applications in wave guiding, sensing, and polarization manipulation. We first report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of a straight gold nanowire structure with two unique plasmonic resonances. One resonance is omni directional and polarization insensitive while the second resonance is highly dependent on nanowire diameter and wire to wire spacing, ideal for sensing applications. Inclined gold nanowire metmaterials along with titanium dioxide inclined and helical nanowire structures are designed and characterized for polarization manipulation to be integrated as nano devices in photonic circuits. Horizontally inclined gold nanowires are shown to have strong anisotropy and manipulate the polarization state of light over a highly tunable narrow wavelength range. The geometric phase is examined on the Poincar\'{e} Sphere and momentum space in optical fibers. A gold helical nanowire structure as a circular polarizer is introduced with a highly tunable resonance in the mid infrared range. Finally, relaxed total internal reflection is experimentally shown by measuring the critical angle for total internal reflection by fabricating silica/silicon multilayer structures on hemicylindrical silicon prisms. The critical angle for total internal reflection is shown to be different for (p) and (s) polarized light. This experimental work is the first evidence of relaxed total internal reflection. This work paves the way for further advancements for waveguides and polarization manipulation elements for photonic circuits.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Nanowire Metamaterials
  • Relaxed Total Internal Reflection
  • Geometric Phase

• Graduation date

  Spring 2016

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3CR5NT2B

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.