Galinski, Henning, Favraud, Gael, Dong, Hao, Totero Gongora, Juan Sebastian, Gregory, Favaro, Döbeli, Max, Spolenak, Ralph, Fratalocchi, Andrea and Capasso, Federico (2017) Scalable, ultra-resistant structural colors based on network metamaterials. Light Science and Applications, 2017 (6). e16233. ISSN 2095-5545

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Abstract

Structural colors have drawn wide attention for their potential as a future printing technology for various applications, ranging from biomimetic tissues to adaptive camouflage materials. However, an efficient approach to realize robust colors with a scalable fabrication technique is still lacking, hampering the realization of practical applications with this platform. Here, we develop a new approach based on large-scale network metamaterials that combine dealloyed subwavelength structures at the nanoscale with lossless, ultra-thin dielectric coatings. By using theory and experiments, we show how subwavelength dielectric coatings control a mechanism of resonant light coupling with epsilon-near-zero regions generated in the metallic network, generating the formation of saturated structural colors that cover a wide portion of the spectrum. Ellipsometry measurements support the efficient observation of these colors, even at angles of 70°. The network-like architecture of these nanomaterials allows for high mechanical resistance, which is quantified in a series of nano-scratch tests. With such remarkable properties, these metastructures represent a robust design technology for real-world, large-scale commercial applications.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Metamaterials, Nanophotonics and plasmonics, Sub-wavelength optics
Schools and Departments:	School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QC Physics > QC0350 Optics. Light T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) > TA1501 Applied optics. Photonics
Related URLs:	Publisher
Depositing User:	Juan Sebastian Totero Gongora
Date Deposited:	15 Nov 2017 09:38
Last Modified:	15 Nov 2017 09:42
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/69647

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