Wet Chemical Engineering of Nanostructured GRIN Lenses

Abstract

Gradient‐index (GRIN) lenses have long been recognized for their importance in optics as a result of their ability to manipulate light. However, traditional GRIN lenses are limited on a scale of tens of microns, impeding their integration into nanoscale optical devices. This study presents a groundbreaking self‐assembled method that overcomes this limitation, allowing for constructing GRIN lenses at an extremely small dimension. The self‐assembly process offers several advantages, including creating highly precise, scalable, cost‐effective, and complex structures that eliminate the need for intricate and time‐consuming manual assembly. By engineering densely packed arrays of metallic nanoparticles, exceptional control over the local refractive index has been achieved. This is accomplished by layer‐by‐layer assembly of gold nanoparticles of different sizes over silica beads. A GRIN lens light‐sink is built where light is preferentially directed toward the center, which is corroborated by measuring the fluorescence of Rhodamine B (RhB) in the inside. Unlike traditional bulky macroscopic GRIN lenses, light‐sinks boast a size under 2.5 µm. Notably, the self‐focusing effects of this design allowed us to track the growth of single‐nanoparticle layers using SERS (Surface‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy). These results pave the way for designing and developing lens‐like devices at the nanoscale, allowing unprecedented light manipulation.