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Light manipulation and Utilization by Plasmonic Metamaterials

Research topics, plasmonic metamaterials, switching device, plasmonic sensor and solar cell.

Research members： Dr. Wakana KUBO

Research fields： Nano/Micro science, Applied physics, Electrical and electronic engineering

Departments： Organization for Promotion of Tenure-track System

Keywords： Plasmonics, Metamaterial, Opto-electrical device, Solar cell, Nanofabrication, Nanocoating

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Summary

I work on developing various functional devices and materials by controlling sunlight. Examples of such devices include solar cells with unprecedented high efficiency, and smart windows that change reflection with environmental temperature. They will be crucial for realizing eco-friendly society in the future.

More specifically, I utilize metal nanostructures to create artificial electromagnetic resonances for the sunlight control. Light absorption, reflection, and scattering of metal nanostructures depend on the interaction between the light and the nanostructures, which in term is determined by their size and shape. This property allows us to manipulate the optical properties of plasmonic devices by designing their nanostructures. Similar principles have been applied to creating metamaterials, which could lead to the invention of invisibility cloak in the future.

At present, through designing unique metal nanostructures, I have succeeded in confining light at the nanoscale, as well as controlling light propagating direction. The next step will be to apply this technique to developing optoelectronics devices and materials with useful applications.

Reference articles and patents

  1. W. Kubo, "Effect of Au nanoparticles on PCPDTBT:PC71BM device performance with fair comparisons" Physica Status Solidi A, 1700110 (early view publication), 2017.
    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201700110
  2. A. Abumazwed, W. Kubo, C. Shen, T. Tanaka, and A. G. Kirk , “Projection method for improving signal to noise ratio of localized surface plasmon resonance biosensors”, Biomedical Optics Express, 8, 1, 446-459, 2017.
    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.8.000446
  3. W. Kubo, Y. Yokota, and T. Tanaka, “Au nanodot lattices with well-controlled in size and density for thin organic solar cells”, Physica Status Solidi-Rapid Research Letters, 9, 348-352, 2015.
    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pssr.201510116
  4. L. Olislarger, W. Kubo, T. Tanaka, S. Ungureanu, R. A. L. Vallee, B. Kolaric, P. Emplit, and S. Massar, “Propagation and survival of frequency-bin entangled photons in metallic nanostructure”, Nanophotonics, 4, 324-331, 2015.
    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2015-0011
  5. W. Kubo, S. Fujikawa, “Au double nanopillars with nanogap for plasmonic sensor” Nano Letters, 11, 8-15, 2011.
    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1021/nl100787b
  6. W. Kubo, H. Hayakawa, K. Miyoshi, S. Fujikawa, “Size-controlled simple fabrication of free-standing, ultralong metal nanobelt array” Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 11, 131-137, 2011.
    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1166/jnn.2011.3123

Contact

University Research Administration Center (URAC),
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
urac[at]ml.tuat.ac.jp
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