arXiv subjects

Nikita Glebov

Publications and source records attributed to Nikita Glebov.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Optical Control of Chirality by Ultrafast Symmetry Breaking in Membrane Metasurfaces

Chirality underpins a wide range of light-matter interactions, yet methods for its dynamic control in photonic systems remain limited. Here, we demonstrate ultrafast all-optical control of chirality in silicon metasurfaces through transient symmetry breaking. Our approach exploits photonic eigenstates of opposite spatial parity engineered to be highly susceptible to symmetry perturbations. Optical excitation generates free carriers that establish a transient refractive-index gradient across the membrane thickness, breaking out-of-plane mirror symmetry and facilitating hybridization of the parity-opposite modes into chiral photonic states. This enables the reversible creation and modulation of chirality on a 10-100 ps timescale, manifested by pronounced changes in the metasurface circular dichroism. By dynamically reconfiguring a fundamental symmetry property of the photonic structure rather than merely its optical response, our work establishes a route towards ultrafast control of chiral light-matter interactions and opens opportunities for active nanophotonic and information processing technologies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Infrared photonics for healthcare: A roadmap for proactive and predictive health management

The field of infrared (IR) photonics is currently undergoing remarkable progress, moving rapidly towards practical sensing applications demanded by medical therapy and diagnostics (theranostics). The Developments can be divided into three main categories: (i) novel devices and measurement concepts including advanced updates of classical approaches that push medical sensing into the spotlight; (ii) new demonstrations of photonic integrated circuit (PIC-)based IR devices enabling highly miniaturized sensors for point-of-care application as well as medical and wellness wearables; and (iii) technologically-mature IR demonstrators that enable first medical sensing and treatment applications. This roadmap paper provides a consolidated overview of this highly dynamic and interdisciplinary research field with a focus on the major roadblocks that limit the widespread adoption of IR photonics in large-scale medical diagnostics. Special attention is given to the ambivalence between the molecular-level spectroscopic interpretation and a broader health-state assessment, highlighting the need for a common framework. Additionally, the paper discusses the critical importance of unified measurement standards, calibration protocols, and medical certification processes to ensure the validity of experimental results, reproducibility, and clinical trust, particularly when novel experimental techniques and AI algorithms are involved. Perspectives from major past and current contributors to application-oriented IR photonics will be provided.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2025

Mid-IR Light Modulators Enabled by Dynamically Tunable Ultra High-Q Silicon Membrane Metasurfaces

Metasurfaces have emerged as a powerful platform to control free-space light at the subwavelength scale, enabling applications in sensing, lasing, nonlinear optics, and quantum photonics. However, their practical deployment is hindered by two key limitations: a tradeoff between low-Q resonances and weak amplitude contrast, and their predominantly static nature allowing only passive functionalities. These challenges are further aggravated in the application-relevant mid-infrared (mid-IR) range, where the lack of suitable low-loss materials and the strong absorption of common substrates such as silicon oxide or sapphire severely constrain performance and scalability. Here, we address these issues with actively tunable single-crystalline silicon membrane metasurfaces that combine high-Q resonances, strong amplitude contrast, and wafer-scale fabrication compatible dimensions for high throughput manufacturing. Our platform achieves record-high measured Q-factors up to 3000 in the mid-IR spectrum, supporting efficient dynamic modulation through two distinct schemes: (i) on-chip electro-thermal tuning via Joule heating, sustaining 50% modulation depth at CMOS-compatible voltages and speeds up to 14.5 kHz, and (ii) ultrafast all-optical modulation via carrier generation in silicon, reaching nanosecond response times and estimated sub-GHz modulation rates. By uniting sharp resonances, strong contrast, large-scale manufacturability, and dynamic tunability, our active silicon membrane metasurfaces advance the frontier of mid-IR nanophotonics and open new opportunities in sensing, free-space communication, thermal radiation management, and quantum technologies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Chirality encoding in resonant metasurfaces governed by lattice symmetries

Chiral metasurfaces provide invaluable tools capable of controlling structured light required for biosensing, photochemistry, holography, and quantum photonics. Here we suggest and realize a universal strategy for controlling the chiral response of resonant metasurfaces via the interplay of meta-atom geometry and lattice arrangements within all five possible planar Bravais symmetries. By introducing chiral gradient metasurfaces, we illustrate how our approach allows producing a predictable chiral response tunable by simple parameter variations. We highlight that symmetry-controlled chiral response provides an additional degree of freedom in optical signal processing, and showcase this with simultaneous mid-IR image encoding in two fundamental quantities, transmission and circular dichroism. Our proposed concept represents a universal toolkit for on-demand design and control of chiral metastructures that has potential for numerous applications in life sciences, quantum optics and more.

physics.optics↗