Tunable Directional Scattering from High-Refractive-Index Particles Dispersed in an Anisotropic Medium

We demonstrate the tunability of the intensity and directionality of scattered light in a soft colloidal dielectric metamaterial. The system consists of high-refractive-index sub-micrometer-sized particles dispersed homogeneously in a nematic liquid crystal. The refractive index modulation of the ne...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physical chemistry. C 2020-08, Vol.124 (34), p.18698-18706
Main Authors: Bhardwaj, Amit, Puthoor, Navas Meleth, Nair, Geetha G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
C: Plasmonics
Optical, Magnetic, and Hybrid Materials
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Summary:We demonstrate the tunability of the intensity and directionality of scattered light in a soft colloidal dielectric metamaterial. The system consists of high-refractive-index sub-micrometer-sized particles dispersed homogeneously in a nematic liquid crystal. The refractive index modulation of the nematic liquid crystals achieved by the application of an ac electric field provides tunable Mie resonant forward scattering of the particles in the optical wavelength regime following Kerker’s first condition. The unique scattering properties exhibited by the system are established using the heterodyne near-field scattering (HNFS) imaging technique. The analysis of the Mie coefficients, simulation of near- and far-field scattering based on Mie theory, and finite element method elucidate the enhancement and tunability of forward scattering.
ISSN:1932-7447
1932-7455
DOI:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c04653