| Plasmonics and the recent birth of metamaterials and transformation optics are currently driving the development of a family of novel devices with unprecedented functionalities ranging from subwavelength plasmonic waveguides and optical nanoresonators to superlenses, hyperlenses and light concentrators. However, these devices operating in the optical range suffer from poor performance due to limitations arising from their constituent plasmonic materials. The problems with conventional metals include large losses, very large magnitude of real permittivity, lack of tunability, fabrication and integration issues. On the other hand, alternative plasmonic materials can not only overcome many of these bottlenecks but also, open up possibilities for new devices. This research focuses on oxides- and nitrides-based ceramic materials which can be metal substitutes in the near-IR and visible ranges. Devices such as hyperbolic metamaterials, plasmonic waveguides and resonators, and epsilon-near-zero devices are demonstrated with alternative plasmonic materials. |
