arXiv subjects

Giancarlo Cincotti

Publications and source records attributed to Giancarlo Cincotti.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An electrically tunable metaatom for visible light

Phase-gradient metasurfaces provide powerful wavefront control through two-dimensional arrangement of nanostructures acting as metaatoms. While dynamic tuning forms a major driver for future breakthroughs and applications in this area, current metaatoms are generally static or limited to operation in the infrared. Here, we present a metaatom that is both electrically tunable and operates in the visible. Its function originates from an excitonic absorption band of a dedoped conducting polymer, which together with low background permittivity induces optical metallicity in a selected part of the visible. This allows anisotropic nanostructures to support excitonic resonances along one direction and not the other, promoting polarization-dependent optical response which can be toggled off and on through reversible doping induced by small bias potentials. Our study details the mechanism of these metaatoms and demonstrate their use in electrically tunable phasegradient metasurfaces for visible light, including erasable and rewritable holograms.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Electrical Tuning of Plasmonic Conducting Polymer Nanoantennas

Nanostructures of conventional metals offer manipulation of light at the nanoscale but are limited to static behavior due to their fixed material properties. To develop the next frontier of dynamic nanooptics and metasurfaces, we utilize the redox-tunable optical properties of conducting polymers, which were recently shown to be capable of sustaining plasmons in their most conducting oxidized state. Using nanodisks of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene:sulfate) (PEDOT:Sulf) as a model system, we present the first electrically tunable conducting polymer nanooptical antennas. In addition to repeated on/off switching of the polymeric nanoantennas, we demonstrate the possibility for gradual electrical tuning of their nanooptical response, which was found to be related to the modulation of both density and mobility of the mobile polaronic charge carriers in the polymer. The presented concept takes important steps towards electrically tunable metasurfaces with truly dynamic optical nanoantenna pixels, with not only varying farfield but also tunable nearfield. The work paves the way for applications ranging from tunable flat metaoptics to adaptable smart windows.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Redox-tunable structural colour images based on UV-patterned conducting polymers

Precise manipulation of light-matter interaction has enabled a wide variety of approaches to create bright and vivid structural colours. Techniques utilizing photonic crystals, Fabry-Pérot cavities, plasmonics, or high-refractive index dielectric metasurfaces have been studied for applications ranging from optical coatings to reflective displays. However, complicated fabrication procedures for sub-wavelength nanostructures, limited active areas, and inherent absence of tunability with these approaches significantly impede their further developments towards flexible, large-scale, and switchable devices compatible with facile and cost-effective production. Herein, we present a way to generate structural colours based on conducting polymer thin films prepared on metallic surfaces via vapour phase polymerization and ultraviolet (UV) light patterning. Varying the UV dose leads to synergistic variation of film absorption and thickness, which generates controllable colours from violet to red. Together with greyscale photomasks this enables fabrication of high-resolution colour images using single exposure steps. We further demonstrate spatiotemporal tuning of the structurally coloured surfaces and images via electrochemical modulation of the polymer redox state. The simple structure, facile fabrication, wide colour gamut, and dynamic colour tuning make this concept competitive for future multi-functional and smart displays.

physics.optics↗