Methods of decreasing losses in optical metamaterials

Abstract

In this work we review methods to decrease the optical absorption losses in metamaterials. The practical interest for metamaterials is huge, but the possible applications are severely limited by their high inherent optical absorption in the metal parts. We consider the possibilities to fabricate metamaterial with a decreased metal volume fraction, the application of alternative lower-loss plasmonic materials instead of the customary utilized noble metals, the use of all-dielectric, high refractive index contrast subwavelength nanocomposites. Finally, we dedicate our attention to various methods to optimize the frequency dispersion in metamaterials by changing their geometry and composition in order to reach lower absorption, which includes the use of the hypercrystals. The final goal is to widen the range of different metamaterialbased devices and structures, including those belonging to transformation optics. Maybe the most important among them is the fabrication of a novel generation of all-optical or hybrid optical/electronic integrated circuits that would operate at optical frequencies and at the same time would offer a packaging density and complexity of the contemporary integrated circuits, owing to the strong localization of electromagnetic fields enabled by plasmonics.