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With the recent resurgence of interest in double negative (DNG) materials and the reported construction of a metamaterial with DNG characteristics, applications of these materials become feasible and examination of the behavior of systems and devices a potentially fruitful topic. The most promising area of research, upon inquiry into past work related to DNG materials, proves to be dielectric waveguides. The present investigation, then, focuses on the inclusion of DNG materials in various planar dielectric waveguide configurations. These waveguides involve a core region surrounded by various numbers of symmetrically-placed cladding layers. The present investigation involves the review of the electromagnetic properties of DNG materials by a thorough analysis based on Maxwell's equations. The use of a negative index of refraction for these materials is justified. These results are then used to perform a frequency domain analysis of an N-layer formulation for dielectric waveguides which is general for any combination of DNG and double positive (DPS) materials. This N-layer formulation allows for the derivation of the characteristic equation, which relates the operating frequency and the propagation constant solutions, along with the cutoff conditions and field distributions. A causal material model which obeys the Kramers-Kronig relations and which is based on measurements of a realized metamaterial is studied and used in the investigation in order to produce realistic results. The N-layer formulation is then applied to the three-layer (slab) waveguide and known results are reviewed. A new interpretation of intramodal degeneracy is given, whereby degenerate modes are split into two separate modes, one with positive phase velocity and one with negative phase velocity but both with a causal positive group (energy) velocity. Next, the formulation is applied to the five-layer waveguide. New behaviors are observed in this case which are not seen for the three-layer waveguide, including the return of the fundamental mode in some cases, whereas it is never present for the three-layer guide, the absence of certain higher-order modes in some situations and the appearance of new modes. Additionally, for some configurations the order of the even and odd modes in the DNG frequency range is found to be reversed from that of conventional waveguides. The photonic crystal waveguide, which involves an infinite number of periodically placed cladding layers, is next studied using ray analysis, and a slight variation of the N-layer formulation is used to compare these results with those of the pseudo-photonic crystal waveguide. The pseudo-photonic crystal waveguide is identical to the photonic crystal waveguide with the exception that it has only large but finite number of layers. It is seen that the results of these two cases are similar for conventional modes, but the photonic crystal waveguide allows for new modes called photonic crystal modes which are inaccessible through conventional waveguides. Interesting phenomena such as mode crossings among the photonic crystal modes are observed and discussed. Using the results from the frequency domain analysis of the five-layer waveguide, a Fourier transform technique is used to study pulse propagation in a waveguide containing DNG materials. A Gaussian pulse is launched in the waveguide over the frequency range covering a portion of the positive- and negative-phase-velocity fundamental transverse electric (TE) modes. Splitting of the input pulse into two separate pulses is observed, where both of these new pulses have a causal, positive energy velocity. The interpretation of intramodal degeneracy given in previous discussions is buttressed with evidence from this portion of the investigation, thus completing the analysis and bringing the present study to its conclusion. / Ph. D.

This dissertation investigates the nonlinear wave propagation phenomena in nonlinear metamaterials with nonlinear chains and nonlinear resonators using analytical and spectro-spatial analyses. In the first part of the thesis, the nonlinear metamaterials are modeled as a chain of masses with multiple local resonators attached to each cell. The nonlinearity stems from the chain's stiffness in one case and the local resonator's stiffness in another. Analytical approximates solutions are obtained for each case using perturbation techniques. These results are validated through numerical simulations and the results show good agreement. To further demonstrate the nonlinear wave propagation characteristics, spectro-spatial analyses are conducted on the numerical integration data sets. The wave profiles, short-term Fourier transform spectrograms, and contour plots of 2D Fourier transform show the presence of solitary waves for both sources of nonlinearity. In addition, spectro-spatial features demonstrate the presence of significant frequency shifts at different wavelength limits. indent The second part of the thesis studies a nonlinear electromechanical metamaterial and examines how the electromechanical coupling in the local resonator affects the wave propagation. Numerical examples indicate that the system can be used for simultaneous energy harvesting and vibration attenuation without any degradation in the size of bandgaps. Spectro-spatial analyses conducted on the electromechanical metamaterial also reveal the presence of solitons and frequency shifts. The presence of solitary wave in the electromechanical metamaterial suggests a significant improvement in energy harvesting and sensing techniques. The obtained significant frequency shift is employed to design an electromechanical diode, allowing voltage to be sensed and harvested only in one direction. Design guidelines and the role of different key parameters are presented to help designers to select the type of nonlinearity and the system parameters to improve the performance of acoustic diodes. indent The last part of this thesis studies the passive self-tuning of a metastructure via a beam-sliding mass concept. The governing equations of motions of the holding structure, resonator, and sliding mass are presented and discretized into a system of ODEs using Galerkin's projection. Given that the spatial parameters of the system continuously change over time (i.e., mode shapes and frequencies), instantaneous exact mode shapes and frequencies are determined for all possible slider positions. The numerical integration is conducted by continuously updating the spatial state of the system. The obtained exact mode shapes demonstrate that the resonance frequency of the resonator stretches over a wide frequency band. This observation indicates that the resonator can attenuates vibrations at a wide frequency range. Experiments are also conducted to demonstrate the passive self-tunability of the metastructure and the findings colloborate the analytical results. / Doctor of Philosophy / Metamaterials are artificially engineered structures that can offer incredible dynamical properties, which cannot be found in conventional homogeneous structures. Consequently, the global metamaterials market is expected to display a 23.6$%$ compound annual growth rate through 2027. Some of these exciting properties include, but not limited to, negative stiffness, negative mass, negative Poisson's ratio. The unique dynamic properties show the importance of metamaterials in many engineering applications, such as vibration reduction, noise control, and waveguiding and localization. However, beyond the linear characteristics of metamaterials, nonlinear metamaterials can exhibit more interesting nonlinear wave propagation phenomena, such as solitons, cloaking, tunable bandgaps, and wave non-reciprocity. indent This research work investigates wave propagation characteristics in nonlinear locally resonant metamaterials using analytical, numerical, and signal processing techniques. The nonlinearity stems from the chain in one case and from the local resonator in another. Numerical examples show the presence of solitary waves in both types of nonlinearity and significant frequency shift in certain frequency/wavenumber regions. The obtained significant frequency shift can be utilized to design mechanical diodes, where its operation range can be increased by introducing nonlinearity in the resonator. indent For simultaneous energy harvesting and vibration attenuation, integrating the local resonator with piezoelectric energy harvesters is also investigated in this research work with the presence of both types of nonlinearities. For weak electromechanical coupling, the results demonstrate that the band structure of the system is not affected by the electromechanical coupling. Therefore, the system can also be used for energy harvesting without any degradation in the vibration attenuation performance. This observation is also validated experimentally for the linear limit. Spectro-spatial analyses also reveal the presence of solitary output voltage waves, which can enhance the energy harvesting and sensing. The obtained significant frequency shift can be utilized to design an electromechanical diode where the wave can propagate and be harvested only in one direction. Numerical examples show that the performance of the electromechanical diode can be significantly improved by including nonlinearities in the local resonator. indent Another goal of this research work is the introduction of passive self-tuning mechanism to design self-tuning metastructure. The design of such a metastructure is motivated by the need for broadband devices that can adapt to changing environment. The passive self-tuning concept is achieved by a sliding mass coupled with a resonator. Analytical and experimental results show the ability of this system to tune itself to the excitation frequency, and hence, can control vibrations over a significantly wider frequency band as compared to conventional resonators.

Acoustic metamaterials have been shown to support acoustic surface waves when excited by a broadband signal in a quiescent environment and these waves could be manipulated by varying the geometry of the structure making up the metamaterial. The study presented here demonstrates the generation of trapped acoustic surface waves when excited by a turbulent flow source. The metamaterial and flow were interfaced using a Kevlar covered single cavity whose Kevlar side faced the flow to ensure no significant disturbance to the flow and the other side was open to a quiescent (stationary) environment housing the metamaterial. Acoustic measurements were performed very close to the surface of the metamaterial in the Anechoic Wall Jet Facility at Virginia Tech using two probe-tip microphones and correlation analysis yielded the structure of the surface waves. Two different metamaterials; slotted array and meander array were tested and characterized by their dispersion relations, temporal correlations, and spatial-temporal structure. The measurements proved the existence of surface waves with propagating speeds of a tenth of the speed of sound, when excited by a turbulent boundary layer flow. These waves were much weaker than the overlying flow exciting them but showcased excellent attenuation properties away from the source of excitation. Measurements along the length of the unit-cell geometry of the metamaterial demonstrated high coherence over a range of frequencies limited by the dimension of the cell. This was a surprising behavior provided the cavity was excited by a fully developed turbulent flow over a flat plate and indicated to an area averaging phenomenon. A wall normal two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (2D-PIV) measurement was performed over the Kevlar covered cavity and a smooth surface to study the effects of the cavity on the flow. The field of view was the same for both cases which made direct flow comparison possible. Flow characteristics such as the boundary layer profiles, Reynolds stress profiles and fluctuating velocity spectrum were studied over the cavity and at downstream locations to quantify the differences in the flows. The boundary layer profiles collapsed in the inner region of the boundary layer but there were small differences in the outer region. The Reynolds stress profiles were also very similar with differences within the uncertainties of processing the images and it reflected similar average behavior of the flow over a smooth wall and a Kevlar covered cavity. The fluctuating velocity spectrum studied over the cavity location showed some differences at low frequencies for all wall normal locations while at higher frequencies the differences were within ±3 dB. These measurements showcased the underlying physics behind the interaction of acoustic metamaterials and turbulent boundary layer flows creating possibilities of using these devices for flow control although further analysis/optimization is needed to fully understand the capabilities of these systems. The demonstration of no significant effect on flow by the Kevlar covered cavity stimulated development of sensors which can average over a region of the wall pressure spectrum. / M.S. / In the field of physics, acoustic metamaterials have gained popularity due to their ability to exhibit certain properties such as sound manipulation which cannot be seen in regular materials. These materials have a key feature which is the periodic arrangement of geometric elements in any dimension. These materials can support a phenomenon termed as acoustic surface waves which are essentially pressure disturbances in the medium which behave differently than some known phenomenon such as sound waves when excited by a broadband pressure signal in a stationary medium. Also, it has been shown that these materials can change the nature of the acoustic surface waves if their geometry is changed. Here a successful attempt has been made to link two different fields in physics: acoustic metamaterials (acoustics) and turbulent flows (fluid dynamics). The study here uses turbulent boundary layer flows to excite these metamaterials to show the existence of acoustic surface waves. This is done by creating an interface between the flow and the metamaterial using a Kevlar covered through cavity which is essentially a through hole connecting to different sides: flow side and the stationary air/quiescent side. This cavity acted as the source of excitation for the metamaterial. The Kevlar covering ensures that the flow does not get disturbed due to the cavity which was also proved in this study using a visualization technique: Particle Image Velocity (PIV). Two microphones were used to study the pressure field very close to two metamaterials; one was referred to as the slotted array comprised of slot cavities arranged in one dimension (along the direction of the flow), while the other was termed as the meander array and it comprised of a meandering channel. The pressure field was well characterized for both the acoustic metamaterials and it was proved that these metamaterials could support acoustic surface waves even when excited by a turbulent flow. The idea here was to fundamentally understand the interaction of acoustic metamaterials and turbulent flows, possibly finding use in applications such as trailing edge noise reduction. The use of these metamaterials in direct applications needs further investigation. A finding from the pressure field study showed that the pressure measured along the length of the Kevlar covered cavity was uniform. The flow visualization study looked at the turbulent flow on a smooth wall and over a Kevlar covered cavity. This was done by injecting tiny particles in air and shooting a laser sheet over these to illuminate the flow. Images were recorded using a high-speed camera to track the movement of these particles. It was found that the flow was unaffected with or without the presence of a Kevlar covered cavity. This result coupled with the pressure field uniformity could have some wide applications in the field of pressure sensing.

In an increasingly data-driven society, sensors and actuators are the bridge between the physical world and the world of "data." Electroacoustic transducers convert acoustic energy into electrical energy (or vice versa), so it can be interpreted as data. Piezoelectric materials are often used for transducer manufacturing, and recent advancements in additive manufacturing have enabled this material to take on complex geometric forms with micro-scale features. This work advances the additive manufacturing of piezoelectric materials by developing a model for predictive success of complex 3D printed geometries in Mask Image Projection-Stereolithography (MIP-SL) by accounting for mechanical wear on Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This work proposes a framework for the rapid manufacture of 3D printed transducers, adaptable to a multitude of transducer element forms. Using the print model and transducer framework, latticed hydrophone elements are designed and tested, showing evidence of selectively tunable sensitivity, resonance, and directivity pattern. These technology advancements are extended to enable a workflow for users to input polar coordinates and receive an acoustic element of a continuously tuned directivity pattern. Investigation into customer problem spaces via tech-push methods are adapted from the NSF's Lean Launchpad to reveal insight to the problems faced in hydrophone applications and other neighboring problem spaces. / Master of Science / In an increasingly data-driven world, sensors are the bridge between the physical world and the world of "data." The better the sensor; the better the data. Electroacoustic transducers are sensors that convert acoustic sound energy into electrical energy or vice versa. These are observed in the world around us as microphones, speakers, ultrasound devices, and more. In the early 1900's, piezoelectric materials became one of the dominant methods for transducer creation, and recent advancements in additive manufacturing have enabled this material to take on highly complex geometric forms with micro-scale feature sizes. Further advancements to additive manufacturing of piezoelectric materials are contributed through development of a model for predicting the success of complex 3D printed geometries in an Mask Image Projection-Stereolithography (MIP-SL) by accounting for mechanical wear on the Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) print window. This work proposes a framework for the rapid manufacture of 3D printed transducers, adaptable to a multitude of element forms. Using the developed print model and transducer framework, latticed hydrophone elements are designed and tested, showing evidence of selectively tunable sensitivity, resonance and beampattern. The advancements in technology are extended to enable a workflow for users to input polar coordinates and receive an acoustic element of continuously tuned beampattern. Investigation into customer problem spaces via tech-push methods are adapted from NSF's Lean Launchpad and reveals great insight to the problems faced in hydrophone applications and other neighboring industry spaces.

<p dir="ltr">Over the past few decades, metamaterials have attracted great research interest due to their extraordinary properties which cannot be easily achieved by natural materials. For example, anisotropic metamaterials that exhibit different properties along different directions, are valuable in different fields of optics. To achieve such anisotropic performance, nanocomposite designs by coupling different materials and functionalities have been demonstrated as an effective approach.</p><p dir="ltr">The goal of this dissertation is to design and fabricate anisotropic multiphase nanocomposite thin films with multifunctionality and tunability. Both transition metal oxides and transition metal nitrides are selected to study due to their high thermal stability, good crystallinity, and unique electromagnetic properties. In addition, different metals, especially plasmonic Au and magnetic Co, are selected as the metallic phase to fabricate nanocomposites. The designs also extend beyond the traditional two-phase nanocomposites to multiphase nanocomposites containing metal, oxide, and nitride, with more metamaterial design possibilities and more functionalities.</p><p dir="ltr">The dissertation consists of the introduction of multiphase nanocomposite thin film and experimental techniques, followed by four research chapters. In the first research chapter, hyperbolic HfO₂-Au with tunable optical properties is fabricated and studied. In the second research chapter, the magnetic Co is introduced into the nanocomposite thin film for multifunctionality design, and the obtained ZrO₂-Co thin film exhibits both hyperbolic optical property and magnetic anisotropy. In the third research chapter, vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) design and multilayer design are combined to achieve a complete three-phase HfO₂-Au/TiN-Au multilayer nanocomposite. Such a complete structure can exhibit tunable optical response. In the fourth research chapter, the magnetic Co is combined with the superconducting NbN to explore more applications of such VAN design. Overall, the dissertation work demonstrates various approaches of anisotropic metamaterials designs using oxides, nitrides, and metals. Enhanced functionality and multifunctionalities are demonstrated. Future research is needed for incorporating these new metamaterials designs in optical devices and sensors.</p>

Nous étudions la mise en oeuvre d ‘antenne à balayage électronique dédiés aux applications de communications par satellite géostationnaire. Les structures développées sont adaptées pour être embarquées dans un avion ou un train. L'architecture de l'antenne développée est constituée d’un double réseau linéaire dans deux dimmensions transverses. Le balayage dans chaque réseau linéaire est assuré par des lignes coplanaires à métamateriaux contrôlées par varactor. Nous porposons de nouvelles méthodes de caracterisation des discontinuités en ligne coplanaire pour la conception de la ligne. De plus, un système de prélèvement d'énergie a dû être conçu afin d'alimenter des éléments rayonnants et testé avec différentes antennes patch. Enfin, nous envisageons la co-intégration des structures rayonnantes et des lignes CRLH ainsi que le contrôle électronique par les diodes. / We are studying the implementation of 'Scanning Antenna dedicated to the applications of satellite communications geostationary. The structures developed are suitable for to be on board an airplane or a train. The architecture of the antenna developed consists of a double linear network in two transverse dimmensions. The scan in each network is provided by the lines coplanar to metamaterials controlled by varactor. We porposons of new methods characterization of discontinuities coplanar online for the line design. In addition, a energy harvesting system has be designed to feed radiating elements and tested with patch different antennas. Finally, we are considering co-integration radiating structures and CRLH lines as well as control electronic by the diodes.

The objective of this dissertation is to develop amorphous metal thin films (AMTFs) for two-terminal electrical device and nanolaminate applications. Two AMTFs, ZrCuAlNi and TiAl, are investigated in both two-terminal electrical device and nanolaminate applications. Material properties including composition, atomic order, surface morphology, surface potential, and electrical resistivity are explored. Application of AMTFs as electrodes in tunneling MIM diodes leverages the ultra-smooth AMTF surface morphology which results from the amorphous atomic order of AMTFs. Analysis methodologies using tunneling MIM diode I-V characteristics are described. A methodology used to estimate potential barrier heights is applied to tunneling MIM diode with differing lower electrode material, upper electrode material and upper electrode deposition technique. A second methodology used to estimate relative tunneling MIM diode insulator thickness is also presented. The presented I-V characteristic analysis methodologies illustrate that tunneling MIM diodes fabricated with AMTF lower electrodes possess tunable I-V characteristics. Nanolaminates are layered materials fabricated with alternating dissimilar thin-film layers. The flexibility of AMTF nanolaminates is illustrated through the presentation of amorphous metal/oxide nanolaminates fabricated with differing AMTFs and aqueous solution deposited oxides. TEM and XPS depth profile analysis of realized nanolaminates are presented. The optical dielectric response of ZrCuAlNi/aluminum phosphate oxide (AlPO) and TiAl/AlPO nanolaminates are evaluated through polarized reflectance measurements and effective medium theory. The optical dielectric response of the nanolaminates differ from the optical dielectric response of the component layers. ZrCuAlNi/AlPO and TiAl/AlPO nanolaminates therefore satisfy the definition of metamaterials. / Graduation date: 2012 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from May 9, 2012 - May 9, 2013

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Strong light matter interactions in metallic nanoparticles (NPs), especially those made of noble metals such as Gold and Silver is at the heart of much ongoing research in nanoplasmonics. Individual NPs can support collective excitations (Plasmon’s) of the electron plasma at certain wavelengths, known as the localized surface Plasmon resonance (LSPR) which provides a powerful platform for various sensing, imaging and therapeutic applications. For a collection of NPs their optical properties can be signify cannily different from isolated particles, an effect which originates in the electromagnetic interactions between the localised Plasmon modes. An interesting aspect of such interactions is their strong dependence on the geometry of NP collection and accordingly new optical properties can arise. While this problem has been well considered in one and two dimensions with periodic as well as with random arrays of NPs, three dimensional systems are yet to be fully explored. In particular, there are challenges in the successful de-sign and fabrication of three dimensional (3D) plasmonic metamaterials at optical frequencies. In the work presented in this thesis we present a detail investigation of the theoretical and experimental aspects of plasmonic interactions in two geometrically different three dimensional plasmonic nanostructured systems - a chiral system consisting of achiral plasmonic nanoparticles arranged in a helical geometry and an achiral system consisting of achiral plasmonic nanoparticle arrays stacked vertically into three dimensional geometry. The helical arrangement of achiral plasmonic nanoparticles were realised using a wafer scale technique known as Glancing Angle Deposition (GLAD). The measured chiro-optical response which arises solely from the interactions of the individual achiral plasmonic NPs was found to be one of the largest reported value in the visible. Semi analytical calculation based on couple dipole approximation was able to model the experimental chiro-optical response including all the variabilities present in the experimental system. Various strategies based on antiparticle spacing, oriented elliptical nanoparticles, dielectric constant value of the dielectric template were explored such as to engineer a strong and tunable chiro-optical response. A key point of the experimental system despite the presence of variabilities, was that the measured chiro-optical response showed less than 10 % variability along the sample surface. Additionally we could exploit the strong near held interactions of the plasmonic nanoparticles to achieve a strongly nonlinear circular differential response of two photon photoluminescent from the helically arranged nanoparticles. In addition to these plasmonic chiral systems, our study also includes investigation of light matter interactions in purely dielectric chiral systems of solid and core shell helical geometry. The chiro-optical response was found to be similar for both the systems and depend strongly on their helical geometry. A core-shell helical geometry provides an easy route for tuning the chiro-optical response over the entire visible and near IR range by simply changing the shell thickness as well as shell material. The measured response of the samples was found to be very large and very uniform over the sample surface. Since the material system is based entirely on dielectrics, losses are minimal and hence could possibly serve as an alternative to conventional plasmonic chiro-optical materials. Finally we demonstrated the used of an achiral three dimensional plasmonic nanostructure as a SERS (surface enhance Raman spectroscopy) substrate. The structure consisted of porous 3D metallic NP arrays that are held in place by dielectric rods. For practically important applications, the enhancement factor, as well as the spatial density of the metallic NPs within the laser illumination volume, arranged in a porous 3D array needs to be large, such that any molecule in the vicinity of the metal NP gives rise to an enhanced Raman signal. Having a large number of metallic NPs within the laser illumination volume, increases the probability of a target molecule to come in the vicinity of the metal NPs. This has been achieved in the structures reported here, where high enhancement factor (EF) in conjunction with large surface area available in a three dimensional structure, makes the 3D NP arrays attractive candidates as SERS substrates.