Tunable optical negative-index metamaterials employing anisotropic liquid crystals

Xiande Wang, Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
Do-Hoon Kwon, Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
D H. Werner, Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
Iam-Choon Khoo, Department of Electrical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
Alexander V. Kildishev, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
V. M. Shalaev, Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University

Abstract

A full-wave analysis technique based on the finite element-boundary integral method is developed and used to rigorously treat the scattering from periodically structured metamaterials incorporating anisotropic liquid crystals (LCs) and dispersive materials. Reconfiguration of the negative-index metamaterials is achieved by controlling the magnetic resonance via tuning permittivity of the embedded anisotropic LCs. Numerical results show that the refractive index of the metamaterials can be reconfigured by tuning the director orientation of anisotropic LCs or by using temperature-dependent LCs. The design configurations and their characteristics in the near- and the mid-infrared ranges are presented.