Highly Confined Optical Modes in Nanoscale Metal-Dielectric Multilayers

We show that a stack of metal-dielectric nanolayers, in addition to the long- and short-range plasmons, guides also an entire family of modes strongly confined within the multilayer - the bulk plasmon modes. We propose the classification scheme that reflects specific properties of these modes. We report experimental verification of the bulk plasmon modes by measuring modal indices in a structure made of three pairs of silica(29nm)/gold(25nm) layers.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Plasmonic Nanolayer Composites: Coupled Plasmon Polaritons, Effective-Medium Response, and Subdiffraction Light Manipulation

We analyze the evolution of the modes in nanoplasmonic multilayered structures and study the transition of the optical properties of these systems to the effective-medium regime. We derive the effective-medium parameters and study the validity of our analytical results with exact numerical solutions of Maxwell equations. Finally, we explore the applications of multilayered systems for subwavelength light confinement in planar and circular waveguides

Spatially and polarization resolved plasmon mediated transmission through continuous metal films

The experimental demonstration and characterization is made of the plasmon-mediated resonant transmission through an embedded undulated continuous thin metal film under normal incidence. 1D undulations are shown to enable a spatially resolved polarisation filtering whereas 2D undulations lead to spatially resolved, polarization independent transmission. Whereas the needed submicron microstructure lends itself in principle to CD-like low-cost mass replication by means of injection moulding and embossing, the present paper demonstrates the expected transmission effects on experimental models based on metal-coated photoresist gratings. The spectral and angular dependence in the neighbourhood of resonance are investigated and the question of the excess losses exhibited by surface plasmons is discusse

Flat Dielectric Grating Reflectors with High Focusing Power

Sub-wavelength dielectric gratings (SWG) have emerged recently as a promising alternative to distributed-Bragg-reflection (DBR) dielectric stacks for broadband, high-reflectivity filtering applications. A SWG structure composed of a single dielectric layer with the appropriate patterning can sometimes perform as well as thirty or forty dielectric DBR layers, while providing new functionalities such as polarization control and near-field amplification. In this paper, we introduce a remarkable property of grating mirrors that cannot be realized by their DBR counterpart: we show that a non-periodic patterning of the grating surface can give full control over the phase front of reflected light while maintaining a high reflectivity. This new feature of dielectric gratings could have a substantial impact on a number of applications that depend on low-cost, compact optical components, from laser cavities to CD/DVD read/write heads.Comment: submitted to Nature Photonic

Ring-Like Solitons in Plasmonic Fiber Waveguide Composed of Metal-Dielectric Multilayers

We design a plasmonic fiber waveguide (PFW) composed of coaxial cylindrical metal-dielectric multilayers in nanoscale, and constitute the corresponding dynamical equations describing the modes of propagation in the PFW with the Kerr nonlinearity in the dielectric layers. The physics is connected to the discrete matrix nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equations, from which the highly confined ring-like solitons in scale of subwavelength are found both for the visible light and the near-infrared light in the self-defocusing condition. Moreover, the confinement could be further improved when increasing the intensity of the input light due to the cylindrical symmetry of the PFW, which means both the width and the radius of the ring are reduced.Comment: 4 figures, submitte

Smart Focal Plane Technologies for VLT Instruments

As we move towards the era of ELTs, it is timely to think about the future role of the 8-m class telescopes. Under the OPTICON programme, novel technologies have been developed that are intended for use in multi-object and integral-field spectrographs. To date, these have been targeted at instrument concepts for the European ELT, but there are also significant possibilities for their inclusion in new VLT instruments, ensuring the continued success and productivity of these unique telescopes.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the ESO Workshop "Science with the VLT in the ELT era

Infrared surface polaritons on bismuth

Optical constants for evaporated bismuth (Bi) films were measured by ellipsometry and compared with those published for single crystal and melt-cast polycrystalline Bi in the wavelength range of 1 to 40 mu m. The bulk plasma frequency omega(p) and high-frequency limit to the permittivity epsilon(infinity) were determined from the long-wave portion of the permittivity spectrum, taking previously published values for the relaxation time tau and effective mass m*. This part of the complex permittivity spectrum was confirmed by comparing calculated and measured reflectivity spectra in the far-infrared. Properties of surface polaritons (SPs) in the long-wave infrared were calculated to evaluate the potential of Bi for applications in infrared plasmonics. Measured excitation resonances for SPs on Bi lamellar gratings agree well with calculated resonance spectra based on grating geometry and complex permittivity

Nonlocal effects in effective-medium response of nanolayered metamaterials

The authors analyze electromagnetic modes in multilayered nanocomposites and demonstrate that the response of a majority of realistic layered structures is strongly affected by the nonlocal effects originating from strong field oscillations across the system, and is not described by conventional effective-medium theories. They develop the analytical description of the relevant phenomena and confirm their results with numerical solutions of Maxwell equations. Finally, the authors use the developed formalism to demonstrate that multilayered plasmonic nanostructures support high-index volume modes, confined to deep subwavelength areas, opening a wide class of applications in nanoscale light management

Enhancing Pockels effect in strained silicon waveguides

© 2019 Optical Society of America. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibited"[EN] The magnitude and origin of the electro-optic measurements in strained silicon devices has been lately the object of a great controversy. Furthermore, recent works underline the importance of the masking effect of free carriers in strained waveguides and the low interaction between the mode and the highly strained areas. In the present work, the use of a p-i-n junction and an asymmetric cladding is proposed to eliminate the unwanted carrier influence and improve the electro-optical modulation response. The proposed configuration enhances the effective refractive index due to the strain-induced Pockels effect in more than two orders of magnitude with respect to the usual configuration. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing AgreementMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO/FEDER, UE) (TEC2016-76849); Universitat Politècnica de València (FPI-Irene Olivares); Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (FPU17/04224); Generalitat Valenciana. Irene Olivares and Jorge Parra acknowledges the Universitat Politècnica de València and Generalitat Valenciana, respectively, for funding their research staff training (FPI) grant.Olivares-Sánchez-Mellado, I.; Parra Gómez, J.; Brimont, ACJ.; Sanchis Kilders, P. (2019). Enhancing Pockels effect in strained silicon waveguides. Optics Express. 27(19):26882-26892. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.026882S26882268922719Komljenovic, T., Huang, D., Pintus, P., Tran, M. A., Davenport, M. L., & Bowers, J. E. (2018). Photonic Integrated Circuits Using Heterogeneous Integration on Silicon. 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