Ultrafast hot electron dynamics in plasmonic nanostructures: Experiments, modelling, design

Metallic nanostructures exhibit localized surface plasmons (LSPs), which offer unprecedented opportunities for advanced photonic materials and devices. Following resonant photoexcitation, LSPs quickly dephase, giving rise to a distribution of energetic ‘hot’ electrons in the metal. These out-of-equilibrium carriers undergo ultrafast internal relaxation processes, nowadays pivotal in a variety of applications, from photodetection and sensing to the driving of photochemical reactions and ultrafast all-optical modulation of light. Despite the intense research activity, exploitation of hot carriers for real-world nanophotonic devices remains extremely challenging. This is due to the com- plexity inherent to hot carrier relaxation phenomena at the nanoscale, involving short-lived out-of-equilibrium electronic states over a very broad range of energies, in interaction with thermal electronic and phononic baths. These issues call for a comprehensive understanding of ultrafast hot electron dynamics in plasmonic nanostructures. This paper aims to review our contribution to the field: starting from the fundamental physics of plasmonic nanostructures, we first describe the experimental techniques used to probe hot electrons; we then introduce a numerical model of ultrafast nanoscale relaxation processes, and present examples in which experiments and modelling are combined, with the aim of designing novel optical functionalities enabled by ultrafast hot-electron dynamics

Planar magneto-photonic and gradient-photonic structures : crystals and metamaterials.

In the field of photonics, two new types of material structures, photonic crystals and metamaterials, are presently of great interest. Both are studied in the present work, which focus on planar magnetic materials in the former and planar gradient metamaterials in the latter. These planar periodic structures are easy to handle and integrate into optical systems. The applications are promising field for future optical telecommunication systems and give rise to new optical, microwave and radio technologies. The photonic crystal part emphasizes the utilization of magnetic material based photonic crystals due to its remarkable magneto-optical characteristics. Bandgaps tuning by magnetic field in bismuth-gadolinium-substituted lutetium iron garnet (Bi0.8 Gd0.2 Lu2.0 Fe5 O12) based one- dimensional photonic crystals are investigated and demonstrated in this work. Magnetic optical switches are fabricated and tested. Waveguide formulation for band structure in magneto photonic crystals is developed. We also for the first time demonstrate and test two- dimensional magneto photonic crystals optical. We observe multi-stopbands in two- dimensional photonic waveguide system and study the origin of multi-stopbands. The second part focus on studying photonic metamaterials and planar gradient photonic metamaterial design. We systematically study the effects of varying the geometry of the fishnet unit cell on the refractive index in optical frequency. It is the first time to design and demonstrate the planar gradient structure in the high optical frequency. Optical beam bending using planar gradient photonic metamaterials is observed. The technologies needed for the fabrication of the planar gradient photonic metamaterials are investigated. Beam steering devices, shifter, gradient optical lenses and etc. can be derived from this design

Growth, characterization and applications of metal oxides on graphitic systems

Tesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Física Aplicada. Fecha de lectura: 03-10-201

Electronic, optical, mechanical and thermoelectric properties of graphene

Graphene, a two-dimensional allotrope of graphite with sp2 bonded carbon atoms, is arranged in honeycomb structure. Its quasi one-dimensional form is graphene nanoribbon (GNR). Graphene related materials have been found to display excellent electronic, chemical, mechanical properties along with uniquely high thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and high optical transparency. With excellent electrical characteristics such as high carrier transport properties, quantum Hall effect at room temperature and unusual magnetic properties, graphene has applications in optoelectronic devices. Electronically, graphene is a zero bandgap semiconductor making it essential to tailor its structure for obtaining specific band structure. Narrow GNRs are known to open up bandgap and found to exhibit variations for different chiralities i.e., armchair and zigzag. Doping graphene, with p- or n- type elements, is shown to exhibit bandgap in contrast to pristine graphene. In this study, optical properties including dielectric functions, absorption coefficient, transmittance, and reflectance, as a function of wavelength and incident energy, are studied. Refractive index and extinction coefficient of pristine graphene are presented. A key optical property in the infrared region, emissivity, is studied as a function of wavelength for various multilayered configurations having graphene as one of the constituent layers. Application of such a structure is in the fabrication of a Hot Electron Bolometer (a sensor that operates on the basis of temperature-dependent electrical resistance). Graphene is found to have very high elastic modulus and intrinsic strength. Nanoindentation of graphene sheet is simulated to study the force versus displacement curves. Effects of variation of diameter of indenter, speed of indentation and number of layers of graphene on the mechanical properties are presented. Shrinking size of electronic devices has led to an acute need for thermal management. This prompted the study of thermoelectric (TE) effects in graphene based systems. TE devices are finding applications in power generation and solid state refrigeration. This study involves analyzing the electronic, thermal and electrical transport properties of these systems. Electronic thermal conductivity, of graphene based systems (κe), is found to be negligible as compared to its phonon-induced lattice thermal conduction (κp). Variations in κp of graphene and GN Rs are evaluated as a function of their width and length of their edges, chiralities, temperature, and number of layers. The interdependence of transport parameters, i.e., electrical conductivity (σ), thermoelectric power (TEP) or Seebeck coefficient (S), and κ of graphene are discussed. The thermoelectric performance of these materials is determined mainly by a parameter called Figure-of-Merit. Effective methods to optimize the value of Figure-of-Merit are explored. Reducing the thermal conductivity and increasing the power factor of these systems are found to improve the Figure-of-Merit significantly. This involves correlation of structure and transport properties. Effects of doping on σ, κ and Hall coefficient are discussed

Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors for Integrated Quantum Optics

This thesis reports on the implementation and characterization of a fully integrated single-photon detector. Several detector circuits are realized and it is shown that the detectors exhibit supreme detection performance over a wide optical spectrum. The detectors\u27 scalability is showcased by the parallel operation of multiple detectors within a single integrated circuit. These demonstrations are essential for future developments in integrated quantum optics