Physicists discover new way of resonance tuning for nonlinear optics

A research team from ITMO University and the Australian National University has discovered that different metasurfaces exhibit the same behavior provided a symmetry breaking is introduced to their unit cells “meta-atoms.” Asymmetry of meta-atoms results in high-quality (high Q) resonances in the transmittance spectra of metasurfaces. Such resonances are capable of multiple amplification of external signals. By manipulating the asymmetry, scientists were able to control the resonances and thus an optical response, which is highly desirable for practical applications. The results of this research were published in Physical Review Letters.