Nanofabrication of Metamaterials for Next Generation Optical Devices

Metamaterials are artificially nano-structured materials that exhibit properties not found in nature, such as negative refraction, superlensing effect and invisibility cloaking. This project aims to develop nanofabrication technologies for metamaterials operating at optical wavelengths and investigate the fundamental understanding of their operation. Two major drawbacks which limit the progress in this field, energy dissipation and narrow operation wavelength, will be investigated by incorporating gain and tunability. The outcomes of the project will uncover the underlying physical phenomena of metamaterials, push current nanofabrication technologies to the ultimate limit and revolutionise the field of nanophotonics for novel applications.