Kirigami metamaterials for reconfigurable toroidal circular dichroism. (September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jing, Liqiao; Wang, Zuojia; Zheng, Bin; Wang, Huaping; Yang, Yihao; Shen, Lian; Yin, Wenyan; Li, Erping; Chen, Hongsheng
• Is Part Of: NPG Asia materials. Volume 10:Number 9(2018)
• Page Start: 888
• Page End: 898
• Publication Date: 2018-09
• Subjects: Materials science -- Periodicals; Materials science; Periodicals; 620.1105
• DOI: 10.1038/s41427-018-0082-x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1884-4057

Abstract

Abstract The ancient paper craft of kirigami has recently emerged as a potential tool for the design of functional materials. Inspired by the kirigami concept, we propose a class of kirigami-based metamaterials whose electromagnetic functionalities can be switched between nonchiral and chiral states by stretching the predesigned split-ring resonator array. Single-band, dual-band, and broadband circular polarizers with reconfigurable performance are experimentally demonstrated with maximum circular dichroism of 0.88, 0.94, and 0.92, respectively. The underlying mechanism is explained and calculated via detailed analysis of the excited multipoles, including the electric, magnetic, and toroidal dipoles and quadrupole. Our approach enables tailoring the electromagnetic functionalities in kirigami patterns and provides an alternate avenue for reconfigurable optical metadevices with exceptional mechanical properties. Metamaterials: A fold and a snip yields an optical switch A new twist on the Japanese art of origami has helped researchers achieve dynamic optical polarization switching for applications including lasers and biosensors. Metamaterials, substances engineered to manipulate radiation in non-natural ways—bending light around objects to make them appear invisible, for example—are normally impossible to re-configure after being fabricated. Liqiao Jing from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and colleagues have overcome this limitation by depositing periodic arrays of copper rings onto thin, foldable polymer sheets. By introducing small cuts and then stretching the sheets, the team created buckled, 3D surfaces with different symmetries to the original flat film. The rearranged atoms in the new structures enabled filtering of circularly polarized light, an effect which could be expanded to broadband frequencies by stacking two folded films on top of one another. An approach towards kirigami metamaterials with reconfigurable toroidal circular dichroism is presented. Inspired by the kirigami concept, kirigami-based chiral metamaterials are proposed to switch the electromagnetic performance between non-chiral and chiral states. When transforming the 2D metasurface to 3D kirigami patterns, the resonant modes exhibit gradually enhanced chiroptical response, from single-band, dual-band to broad-band functionalities.