Three-dimensional nanophotonics with spatially modulated optical properties
Nanophotonics has revolutionized the control of light-matter interactions in various fields of fundamental science and technology. In this work, we propose Implosion Fabrication (ImpFab) as a versatile nanophotonics fabrication platform providing the highest spatial resolution, material versatility, and full volumetric control. ImpFab uniquely combines top-down lithography with bottom-up nanoparticle assembly within a hydrogel scaffold, enabling precise control over optical material properties, such as refractive index, by adjusting printing parameters. We showcase the potential of ImpFab by fabricating three-dimensional photonic crystals and quasicrystals, as well as demonstrating optical structures with spatially modulated unit cell material properties. Our results highlight the potential of ImpFab in producing nanostructures with tailored optical functionalities, which are crucial for applications in sensing, imaging, and information processing, and opening new avenues in developing non-Hermitian photonic systems with spatially controlled gain and loss.
Authors
- Brian Mills (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9652-8501)
- Sachin Vaidya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3569-6568)
- Charles Roques‐Carmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1168-5944)
- Shai Maayani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3773-7255)
- Amel Amin Elfadil Elawad
- Justin Beroz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9448-6894)
- Steven Kooi
- Quansan Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8029-1327)
- Corban Swain
- Gaojie Yang
- Daniel Oran
- Marin Soljačić
- Jamison Sloan
- André Grossi Fonseca
- Edward S. Boyden
- Yi Sun
- Kiran Mak
- Marc de Miguel Comella
- Yannick Salamin
- Josue J. Lopez
Institutions
- University of Central Florida (US)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research (US)
- Center for Neuro-Oncology (US)
- Reliant Technologies (United States) (US)
- Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (US)
- IIT@MIT (US)
- Cambridge Electronics (United States) (US)
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Light Science & Applications
- Published
- 2026-03-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-025-02166-5
- Primary Topic
- Photonic Crystals and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- National Institutes of Health
- Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative
- Office of Naval Research
- Army Research Office
- Army Research Laboratory