Monodisperse silicon nanocavities and photonic crystals with magnetic response in the optial region

[EN] It is generally accepted that the magnetic component of light has a minor role in the light-matter interaction. The recent discovery of metamaterials has broken this traditional understanding, as both the electric and the magnetic field are key ingredients in metamaterials. The top-down technology used so far employs noble metals with large intrinsic losses. Here we report on a bottom-up approach for processing metamaterials based on suspensions of monodisperse full dielectric silicon nanocavities with a large magnetic response in the near-infrared region. Experimental results and theory show that silicon-colloid-based liquid suspensions and photonic crystals made of two-dimensional arrays of particles have strong magnetic response in the near-infrared region with small optical losses. Our findings might have important implications in the bottom-up processing of large-area low-loss metamaterials working in the near-infrared region.We acknowledge financial support from the following projects FIS2009-07812, Consolider 2007-0046 Nanolight, the PROMETEO/2010/043 and the Robert A. Welch Foundation (F-1464). L.S. thanks the financial support from the MINECO (Estancias de profesores e investigadores extranjeros en centros espanoles) fellowship program.Shi, L.; Harris, JT.; Fenollosa Esteve, R.; Rodríguez, M.; Lu, X.; Korgel, B.; Meseguer Rico, FJ. (2013). Monodisperse silicon nanocavities and photonic crystals with magnetic response in the optial region. Nature Communications. 4:419041-419047. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms29344190414190474Landau, L. D. & Lifshitz, E. M. . Electrodynamics of Continuous Media Oxford, UK (1960) .Smith, D. R., Pendry, J. B. & Wiltshire, M. C. K. . Metamaterials and negative refractive index. Science 305, 788–792 (2004) .Soukoulis, C. 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