Plasmonic cavity-apertures as dynamic pixels for the simultaneous control of colour and intensity

Abstract

Despite steady technological progress, displays are still subject to inherent limitations in resolution improvement and pixel miniaturization because a series of colours is generally expressed by a combination of at least three primary colour pixels. Here we propose a structure comprising a metal cavity and a nanoaperture, which we refer to as a cavity-aperture, to simultaneously control the colour and intensity of transmitted light in a single pixel. The metal cavity constructs plasmonic standing waves to organize the spatial distribution of amplitudes according to wavelength, and the nanoaperture permits light with a specific wavelength and amplitude to pass through it, depending on the nanoaperature's relative position in the cavity and the polarization state of the incident light. Therefore, the cavity-aperture has the potential to function as a dynamic colour pixel. This design method may be helpful in developing various photonic devices, such as micro-imaging systems and multiplexed sensors.

Independent Color Filtering of Differently Polarized Light Using Metal-Insulator-Metal Type Guided Mode Resonance Structure

“…There have been some suggestions of application area utilizing the same function with the proposed device, including chromatic polarizer [30] for polarization imaging and realization of multiple color at the single pixel for ultra-high resolution display or sensor [31,32]. However, transmittance of the device in reference [31] is very low compared with our proposed device, and color design in the reference [30,32] is somewhat restricted due to the band stop style of the spectrum.…”

“…However, transmittance of the device in reference [31] is very low compared with our proposed device, and color design in the reference [30,32] is somewhat restricted due to the band stop style of the spectrum.…”

Laser‐Splashed Plasmonic Nanocrater for Ratiometric Upconversion Regulation and Encryption

“…Optical multiplexing and encoding based on light–matter interactions in physical dimensions such as polarization, wavelength, angular dispersion, and orbital angular momentum have been well heralded as an enabling platform for high‐security encryption applications in banknotes, ID cards, and so on . Among these well‐developed optical encoding strategies, spectral encryption based on spatial patterning of luminescent materials possessing distinct emission features is widely implemented .…”

Active Color Control in a Metasurface by Polarization Rotation

“…However, previously demonstrated structures cannot support wide range of colors as they generate linearly varying color gamut [33] or cover partial space [8,38] in a chromaticity diagram using one unit design. Meanwhile, generation of three primary colors: red, green and blue in a single system, has been reported by adopting three cavities of different shapes and directions altogether [30]. Although this cavity-aperture system had potential for a tunable color filter, transmittance of the system is extremely low, obstructing practical usage.…”

“…As an alternative, adoption of mechanical transformation [17][18][19][20][21], chemical transition [22][23][24], phase change material [25][26][27][28] and electrochromic polymer [29] provide dynamic color printing. Nevertheless, dynamic color printing can be realized in a far simpler system by polarization control without involving any external stimuli [30][31][32]. A periodic array of cross-shaped nanoantennas [8,[33][34][35], elliptical nanostructures [31,32,36], rectangle nanostructures [37] and a grating pattern [38] have demonstrated active color printing by rotating incident polarization.…”