Graphene-Based Multilayered Metamaterials with Phototunable Architecture for on-Chip Photonic Devices

Abstract

Graphene-based metamaterials have been theoretically demonstrated as an enabler for applications as perfect absorbers, photodetectors, light emitters, modulators, and tunable spintronic devices. However, challenges associated with conventional film deposition techniques have made the multilayered metamaterial difficult to fabricate, which have severely limited experimental validations. Herein, the experimental demonstration of the phototunable graphene-based multilayered metamaterials on diverse substrates by a transfer-free, solution-phase deposition method is presented. The optical properties of the metamaterials are tuned dynamically by controllable laser-mediated conversion from graphene oxide layers into graphene counterparts, which exhibit different degrees of conversion, which would offer huge potential for devices design and fabrication. The converted graphene layers present comparable (within 10%) optical conductivity to their chemical vapor deposited analogues. Moreover, laser patterning leads to functional photonic devices such as ultrathin flat lenses embedded in the lab-on-chip device, which maintains consistency and exhibits subwavelength focusing resolution in aqueous environments without any noticeable degradation compared with the original lens. This graphene-based metamaterial provides a new experimental platform for broad applications in on-chip integrated photonic, biomedical, and microfluidic devices.