Surface-Guided Crystallization of Xanthine Derivatives for Optical Metamaterial Applications

Angelica Niazov-Elkan, Margarita Shepelenko, Lotem Alus, Miri Kazes, Lothar Houben, Katya Rechav, Gregory Leitus, Anna Kossoy, Yishay Feldman, Leeor Kronik, Peter G. Vekilov, Dan Oron

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Numerous bio-organisms employ template-assisted crystallization of molecular solids to yield crystal morphologies with unique optical properties that are difficult to reproduce synthetically. Here, a facile procedure is presented to deposit bio-inspired birefringent crystals of xanthine derivatives on a template of single-crystal quartz. Crystalline sheets that are several millimeters in length, several hundred micrometers in width, and 300–600 nm thick, are obtained. The crystal sheets are characterized with a well-defined orientation both in and out of the substrate plane, giving rise to high optical anisotropy in the plane parallel to the quartz surface, with a refractive index difference Δn ≈ 0.25 and a refractive index along the slow axis of n ≈ 1.7. It is further shown that patterning of the crystalline stripes with a tailored periodic grating leads to a thin organic polarization-dependent diffractive meta-surface, opening the door to the fabrication of various optical devices from a platform of small-molecule based organic dielectric crystals.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2306996
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume36
Issue number8
Early online date29 Nov 2023
DOIs
StatePublished - 22 Feb 2024

Keywords

  • birefringence
  • crystallization
  • optical-metamaterials
  • xanthine

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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