Reconfigurable collective resonances induced by liquid crystals in dielectric metasurfaces

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how liquid crystal environments can dynamically tune collective resonances in dielectric metasurfaces, enabling new optical nanodevices with switchable functionalities in the visible spectrum.

Contribution

It introduces a method to actively control resonances in dielectric metasurfaces using liquid crystal orientation and external voltage, a novel approach for dynamic optical device tuning.

Findings

Resonances can be tuned by LC molecule orientation.

External voltage effectively switches resonance states.

Dynamic control enables new nanophotonic applications.

Abstract

Dielectric metasurfaces can show multi-resonant response with high Q-factors in the visible range due to multipole coupling. This work suggests that these collective resonances in all-dielectric metasurfaces can be modified if adjacent to an anisotropic liquid crystal medium, opening a new path toward the dynamic metasurface effects. Using numerical full-wave simulations and the multipole decomposition technique for reflection and transmission coefficients we study the influence of the surrounding anisotropic medium on the resonant response of metasurfaces composed of disk-shaped dielectric nanoparticles. First, we consider tuning and switching the resonances induced by the polarization of the incident beam in metasurfaces placed in a medium with different orientations of LC molecules. Secondly, we study the case when the tuning of resonances is carried out by applying an external voltage that changes the orientation of LC molecules and thereby changes the refractive index of the surrounding medium. The results obtained demonstrate the possibility of directly tuning the resonant response of dielectric metasurfaces in an anisotropic environment, which is important for the development of optical nanodevices with dynamic switching of functional modes in the visible range.