109 research outputs found
Channel and wedge plasmon modes of metallic V-grooves with finite metal thickness
We investigate numerically the effect of a finite metal film thickness on the propagation characteristics of the channel plasmon polariton (CPP) and wedge plasmon polariton (WPP) modes, both in a symmetric and asymmetric environment. We observe that decreasing the metal thickness results in an improvement of the field localization near the groove tip and an increase of the losses for both types of mode. This behavior stems from the typical symmetric charge distribution of both modes across the metal film. When considering an asymmetric dielectric environment, the CPP mode is found to evolve into short range plasmon modes propagating along the groove walls, in contrast to the WPP mode which remains essentially confined at the tip apex. These results can be useful to tailor the properties of such plasmon modes, using the metal thickness as the variable parameter. (C) 2009 Optical Society of Americ
A bottom-up approach to fabricate optical metamaterials by self-assembled metallic nanoparticles
We introduce a novel bottom-up approach to fabricate by self assembly a metamaterial from metallic nanoparticles in a two-step process. In the first step, a metamaterial made of densely packed silver nanoparticles is required. The material dispersion with increasing nanoparticle densities, from dispersed to randomly packed nanoparticles, was measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry, demonstrating high permittivity values in the visible. In the second step, this material was used to prepare spherical clusters by a method based on oil-in-water emulsion. The optical properties of these clusters were equally investigated by spectroscopic means. Comparisons with rigorous numerical simulations clearly indicate that, depending on the cluster size, their spectral response can be unambiguously associated with the excitation of a magnetic dipole resonance. As a consequence, such spherical clusters are promising building blocks for future metamaterials possessing a magnetic response in the visible range
Surface Plasmon Polaritons and Their Role in the Enhanced Transmission of Light through Periodic Arrays of Subwavelength Holes in a Metal Film
William L. Barnes, W. Andrew Murray, J. Dintinger, E. Devaux, and T. W. Ebbesen, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 92, article 107401 (2004). "Copyright © 2004 by the American Physical Society."We present results of the transmitted, reflected, and absorbed power associated with the enhanced transmittance of light through a silver film pierced by a periodic array of subwavelength holes. Comparing experimentally acquired dispersion curves under different polarization conditions shows that the transmission features of the array are consistent with p-polarized resonant modes of the structure. By exploring the regime in which no propagating diffracted orders are allowed, we further show that the transmittance maxima are associated with both reflectance minima and absorption maxima. These new results provide strong experimental evidence for transmission based on diffraction, assisted by the enhanced fields associated with surface plasmon polaritons
A single-photon transistor using nano-scale surface plasmons
It is well known that light quanta (photons) can interact with each other in
nonlinear media, much like massive particles do, but in practice these
interactions are usually very weak. Here we describe a novel approach to
realize strong nonlinear interactions at the single-photon level. Our method
makes use of recently demonstrated efficient coupling between individual
optical emitters and tightly confined, propagating surface plasmon excitations
on conducting nanowires. We show that this system can act as a nonlinear
two-photon switch for incident photons propagating along the nanowire, which
can be coherently controlled using quantum optical techniques. As a novel
application, we discuss how the interaction can be tailored to create a
single-photon transistor, where the presence or absence of a single incident
photon in a ``gate'' field is sufficient to completely control the propagation
of subsequent ``signal'' photons.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure
Strong coupling between surface plasmon-polaritons and organic molecules in subwavelength hole arrays
J. Dintinger, S. Klein, F. Bustos, William L. Barnes, and T. W. Ebbesen, Physical Review B, Vol. 71, article 035424 (2005). "Copyright © 2005 by the American Physical Society."The interaction of a J-aggregate and surface plasmon polariton modes of a subwavelength hole array have been studied in detail. By measuring the effects of hole array period, angular dispersion and concentration of the J-aggregate on the transmission of the array, the existence of a strong coupling regime is demonstrated with a Rabi splitting of 250 meV. This large splitting is explained not only by the high oscillator strength of the dye but also by the high local field amplitudes generated by surface plasmons of the metallic structure
Modulation of surface plasmon coupling-in by one-dimensional surface corrugation
Surface plasmon-polaritons have recently attracted renewed interest in the
scientific community for their potential in sub-wavelength optics, light
generation and non-destructive sensing. Given that they cannot be directly
excited by freely propagating light due to their intrinsical binding to the
metal surface, the light-plasmon coupling efficiency becomes of crucial
importance for the success of any plasmonic device. Here we present a
comprehensive study on the modulation (enhancement or suppression) of such
coupling efficiency by means of one-dimensional surface corrugation. Our
approach is based on simple wave interference and enables us to make
quantitative predictions which have been experimentally confirmed at both the
near infra-red and telecom ranges.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physics, revised
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Real-time observation of ultrafast Rabi oscillations between excitons and plasmons in metal nanostructures with J-aggregates
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Cooperative coupling of ultracold atoms and surface plasmons
Cooperative coupling between optical emitters and light fields is one of the
outstanding goals in quantum technology. It is both fundamentally interesting
for the extraordinary radiation properties of the participating emitters and
has many potential applications in photonics. While this goal has been achieved
using high-finesse optical cavities, cavity-free approaches that are broadband
and easy to build have attracted much attention recently. Here we demonstrate
cooperative coupling of ultracold atoms with surface plasmons propagating on a
plane gold surface. While the atoms are moving towards the surface they are
excited by an external laser pulse. Excited surface plasmons are detected via
leakage radiation into the substrate of the gold layer. A maximum Purcell
factor of is reached at an optimum distance of
from the surface. The coupling leads to the observation of
a Fano-like resonance in the spectrum.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
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