Final Report: Amphiphilic Block Copolymer Mediated Self-Assembly of Nanocomponents Into Active Metamaterial Structures: Nonlinear Metamaterials

High-level theoretical analysis tools have been developed and employed in order to better understand the parameter space relevant to the design of hybrid organic/metal-nanoparticle meta-elements and materials. The first results from this work were published in Applied Physics Letters 103, 031102 (2013). These data have been translated to guide the goals of material synthesis efforts. Materials synthesis to date has consisted of learning to prepare and modify nonlinear dyes, block copolymers, gold nanorods, and functionalized surfaces to yield desired optical/physical properties. Gold nanorods of various length/width aspect ratios (with correspondingly varied optical properties) have been successfully functionalized with multi-block copolymers and/or alkane-thiol functionalized ONLOs. The unique linear optical properties of these materials demonstrate potential utility in mitigating long-standing efficiency problems in compact YAG laser designs. A publication detailing these results has been accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (Jul. 2016). Vertical nanorod (nanopillar) array samples from the Anatoly Zayats research lab at Kings College, London have also been functionalized with ONLOs and analyzed.(6) Nonlinear effects resulting from these efforts are being evaluated using Sum Frequency Generation (SFG) and Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) in collaboration with Professor Robert Walkers Lab at MSU.