Plasmonic polymer nanoantenna arrays for electrically tunable and electrode-free metasurfaces

Abstract

Electrically tunable metasurfaces and interrelated nanofabrication techniques are essential for metasurface-based optoelectronic applications. We present a nanofabrication method suitable for various types of plasmonic polymer metasurfaces including inverted arrays of nanoantennas. Inverted metasurfaces are of particular interest since the metasurface itself can work as an electrode due to its interconnected nature, which enables electrical control without adopting an additional electrode. In comparison with inverted nanodisk arrays that support relatively weak resonance features, we show that inverted nanorod arrays can possess stronger resonances, even comparable with those of nanorod arrays. The origin of plasmon resonances in inverted arrays is systematically investigated using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. Further, we demonstrate electrically tunable electrode-free metasurface devices using polymer inverted nanorod arrays, which can operate in the full spectral range of the material including the mid-infrared region.