We recently introduced conducting polymers as a new category of materials for dynamically tuneable plasmonics and metasurfaces. Unlike metals, conducting polymers can be dynamically switched between being metallic (negative permittivity) and dielectric (positive permittivity) by varying their redox state. Nanoantennas made from the polymer can therefore provide plasmonic resonances that can be reversibly turned on/off. However, previous reports on conducting polymer plasmonics were limited to p-type polymers. Here, we show for the first time that nanostructures made of an n-type conducting polymer, named poly(benzodifurandione) (PBFDO), can also sustain plasmonic resonances and that are switchable both electrically and chemically. Tandem devices integrated with both p-type and n-type conducting polymer metasurfaces open for novel functionalities including new operation mechanisms based on redox-tunable p-n junctions for dynamic metaoptics. Such dynamic nanoantennas from conducting polymers have prospective applications in reflective displays, smart windows, and dynamic metaoptics including flat lenses and holograms.
|