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Dynamically tunable membrane metasurfaces for infrared spectroscopy and strong light-matter interactions
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DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02382-7.png)
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Abstract
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Mid-infrared spectroscopy enables biochemical sensing by identifying vibrational molecular fingerprints, but it faces limitations in instrumentation portability and analytical sensitivity. Optical metasurfaces with strong mid-infrared photonic resonances provide an attractive solution towards on-chip spectrometry and sensitive molecular detection, yet their static nature hinders their anticipated impact. Here, we introduce and demonstrate dynamically tunable silicon membrane metasurfaces exhibiting high-Q transmissive resonances in the fingerprint region. By harnessing silicon’s thermo-optical properties, we achieve continuous modulation of coupling-induced transparency (CIT) modes that emerge upon the interference of quasi-bound states in the continuum (q-BICs) and surface lattice modes (SLMs). We measure a spectral tuning rate of 0.06 cm−1 K−1 by continuously sweeping the sharp CIT resonances over a 23.5 cm−1 spectral range across a temperature range of 300–700 K. In the current proof‑of‑concept implementation, the dynamic transmission control enables non-contact chemical analysis of polymer films by detecting characteristic absorption bands of polystyrene (1450 and 1492 cm−1) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (1730 cm−1) without requiring conventional spectrometers. When analyte molecules fill the metasurface-generated photonic cavities, we demonstrate vibrational strong coupling between the poly(methyl methacrylate)’s carbonyl band and the CIT mode, manifested in a Rabi splitting of ~43 cm−1. Our results establish a new photonic platform that unites spectral precision, strong field enhancement, and reconfigurability, offering diverse potential for compact mid-infrared spectroscopy, molecular sensing, and programmable polaritonic photonics. Thermally tunable free-standing silicon membrane metasurfaces support high-Q infrared transparency resonances arising from q-BIC and surface lattice mode interactions, offering a compact approach for reconfigurable spectroscopy and biochemical sensing.
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