POOM-CGC

PID2020-114796RB-C22 (PROYECTO/AEI/10.13039/501100011033)

The research on "Planar Optics with Oxide-Based Metamaterials: Crystal Growth and Structural Morphological Characterization" emerges at the intersection of optics, crystallography, and metamaterial engineering. This project focuses on the crystal growth of Cd(Zn)O- and Zn(Mg)O- based thin films, nanoparticles and heterostructures by using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and spray pyrolysis (SP) as growth techniques, as well as focuses on the study in deep of the morphological and structural properties of these oxides in correlation with their plasmonic and phononic characteristics. The previous studies of the team have shown the potentialities of these oxides as a new and challenging approach in the field of plasmonics, thus the subproject at UVEG will tackle three different main objectives:

1. Understanding and controlling in deep the processes involved in the MOCVD growth of plasmonic Cd(Zn)O alloys (layers, Cd(Zn)O/CdO heterostructures, and nanoparticles) over sapphire, SiC, and PbSe. The two last substrates opening novel ways to the plasmonic based on oxides.

2. Understanding and controlling the processes involved in the deposition of Zn(Mg)O by spray pyrolysis over the same substrates, with the aim of showing the opportunities of low cost techniques in the field of plasmonics.

3. Determining the structural and morphological characteristics of the oxides by means of X-ray diffraction of high resolution (HRXRD) and electron microscopies (SEM and TEM), and studying the real composition of these oxides in respect to their structural properties, and the optical and electric properties, determined by the UPM team, in order to stablish a systematic feedback with the growth conditions.

As a derivate of the main objectives, but not limiting them, the growth of PbSe substrates by physical vapor transport, travelling heater method and vacuum evaporation will be undertaken, in order to have complementary substrates to the ones provided the company involved at the project (NIT).

Plasmonic, Phononic, MOCVD, SP, IR Photodetectors, Oxide Semiconductors

Grup de Creixement Cristal·lí i Caracterització de Semiconductors (CRECYCSEM)

Campus Burjassot/Paterna

C/ Dr. Moliner, 50 46100 Burjassot (València)

Telephone: 963 543 307 

Email: vicente.munoz@uv.es

This project falls within the scope of two essential enabling technologies (KETs): nanotechnology and advanced materials, and it will enhance Spanish competitiveness and open up new markets. The project's outcomes are expected to lead to the development of new optical components with improved functionality, where control over the structure and dimensions of the material will enable better control and functionalities in the mid-infrared (IR).

Throughout the four work packages addressed in the project, we will cover the different necessary steps to obtain and demonstrate the feasibility of new functional optical devices. The underlying principle on which the project is built is the optimization of growth techniques (MOCVD and SP) used to grow oxides with high control over their interfaces, composition, and electron concentration, aiming to obtain heterostructures based on Cd(Zn)O and Zn(Mg)O integrated on different substrates, specifically sapphire, SiC, and PbSe. To convert and integrate these materials into functional optical devices, a combination of optical design tools and nanoprocessing techniques will be utilized. Through optical design, and using a combination of 2D and 3D modelling of light interaction with oxides, designs for different optical components will be made using the plasmonic and phononic characteristics of the oxides. These designs will be implemented through the technological processing of optical components and will include two types of devices: passive and electrically tunable. Among the former, we will demonstrate perfect absorbers, hybrid optical waveguides, and nanoantennas, while within the latter group, we will demonstrate devices with negative refractive index, polaritonic polarizers, and absorbers. All these optical devices will operate in the mid-infrared range from 3 to 30 μm.

This project also aims to transfer the technology to companies working on infrared detectors and optical components, such as New Infrared Technologies (NIT), a Spanish company focused on optical detectors collaborating with the consortium. Finally, one of the most important core aspects of the project is internationalization. Thus, the project objectives are defined using European collaborators (University of Versailles-Paris Saclay, France) with whom there is already a solid scientific relationship (as evidenced by joint publications, joint European projects, student exchanges, etc.). The project will help strengthen these collaborations and serve as a seed for a future project proposal within the new Horizon Europe framework program.

• MCiencia - Innovation