Free-Space Graphics with Electrically Driven Levitated Light Scatterers

Levitation of optical scatterers provides a new mean to develop free-space volumetric displays. The principle is to illuminate a levitating particle displaced at high velocity in three dimensions (3D) to create images based on persistence of vision (POV). Light scattered by the particle can be observed all around the volumetric display and therefore provides a true 3D image that does not rely on interference effects and remains insensitive to the angle of observation. The challenge is to control with a high accuracy and at high speed the trajectory of the particle in three dimensions. Systems that use light to generate free-space images either in plasma or with a bead are strictly dependent of the scanning method used. Mechanical systems are required to scan the particles in the volume which weakens the time dynamics. Here we use electrically driven planar Paul traps (PPTs) to control the trajectory of electrically charged particles. A single gold particle colloid is manipulated in three dimensions through AC and DC electrical voltages applied to a PPT. Electric voltages can be modulated at high frequencies (150 kHz) and allow for a high speed displacement of particles without moving any other system component. The optical scattering of the particle in levitation yields free-space images that are imaged with conventional optics. The trajectory of the particle is entirely encoded in the electric voltage and driven through stationary planar electrodes. We show in this paper, the proof-of-concept for the generation of 3D free space graphics with a single electrically scanned particle

Purcell factor of Mie resonators featuring electric and magnetic modes

We present a modal approach to compute the Purcell factor in Mie resonators exhibiting both electric and magnetic resonances. The analytic expressions of the normal modes are used to calculate the effective volumes. We show that important features of the effective volume can be predicted thanks to the translation-addition coefficients of a displaced dipole. Using our formalism, it is easy to see that, in general, the Purcell factor of Mie resonators is not dominated by a single mode, but rather by a large superposition. Finally we consider a silicon resonator homogeneously doped with electric dipolar emitters, and we show that the average electric Purcell factor dominates over the magnetic one

Compact metallo-dielectric optical antenna for ultra directional and enhanced radiative emission

We report the design of highly efficient optical antennas employing a judicious synthesis of metallic and dielectric materials. In the proposed scheme, a pair of metallic coupled nanoparticles permits large enhancements in both excitation strength and radiative decay rates, while a high refractive index dielectric microsphere is employed to efficiently collect light without spoiling the emitter quantum efficiency. Our simulations indicate potential fluorescence rate enhancements of 3 orders of magnitude over the entire optical frequency range

Total light absorption in a wide range of incidence by nanostructured metal without plasmons

International audienceMetals structured by nanocavities have recently been demonstrated to efficiently absorb light in a wide range of angle of incidence. It has been assumed that nanovoid plasmons are at the origin of the strong absorption. It is shown in this paper that it is possible to totally absorb incident light without plasmons. To avoid their excitation, a diffraction grating consisting of cylindrical cavities in a metallic substrate is illuminated in transverse electric (TE) polarization. It is found that cylindrical cavities can sustain cavity resonances with a high enhancement of the light intensity, provoking a total absorption of light in a wide range of incidence

Mode-balancing far field control of light localization in nanoantennas

Light localization is controlled at a scale of lambda/10 in the harmonic regime from the far field domain in a plasmonic nanoantenna. The nanoantenna under study consists of 3 aligned spheres 50 nm in diameter separated by a distance of 5 nm. By simply tuning the orientation of an incident plane wave, symmetric and antisymmetric mode-balancing induces a strong enhancement of the near field intensity in one cavity while nullifying the light intensity in the other cavity. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the dipolar moment of a plasmonic particle can be fully extinguished when strongly coupled with a dimer of identical nanoparticles. Consequently, optical transparency can be achieved in an ultra-compact symmetric metallic structure

Evolutionary optimization of all-dielectric magnetic nanoantennas

Magnetic light and matter interactions are generally too weak to be detected, studied and applied technologically. However, if one can increase the magnetic power density of light by several orders of magnitude, the coupling between magnetic light and matter could become of the same order of magnitude as the coupling with its electric counterpart. For that purpose, photonic nanoantennas have been proposed, and in particular dielectric nanostructures, to engineer strong local magnetic field and therefore increase the probability of magnetic interactions. Unfortunately, dielectric designs suffer from physical limitations that confine the magnetic hot spot in the core of the material itself, preventing experimental and technological implementations. Here, we demonstrate that evolutionary algorithms can overcome such limitations by designing new dielectric photonic nanoantennas, able to increase and extract the optical magnetic field from high refractive index materials. We also demonstrate that the magnetic power density in an evolutionary optimized dielectric nanostructure can be increased by a factor 5 compared to state of the art dielectric nanoantennas. In addition, we show that the fine details of the nanostructure are not critical in reaching these aforementioned features, as long as the general shape of the motif is maintained. This advocates for the feasibility of nanofabricating the optimized antennas experimentally and their subsequent application. By designing all dielectric magnetic antennas that feature local magnetic hot-spots outside of high refractive index materials, this work highlights the potential of evolutionary methods to fill the gap between electric and magnetic light-matter interactions, opening up new possibilities in many research fields.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Design of a full silica pulse compression grating

International audienceA diffraction grating engraved on a two-dimensional photonic crystal composed of square air holes in a silica matrix is numerically studied for the compression of ultra-short pulses. The silica is therefore the only solid material of the grating and the reflection of the incident beam is based on the contrast of the air and silica refractive indices. This optical component enables the single use of silica as a solid material presenting a high laser induced damage threshold. In comparison to gratings engraved on a dielectric stack (MLD), it offers the advantage of avoiding the presence of interfaces between 2 solid materials with different mechanical properties, sources of mechanical constraints which can distort the grating

Optical performance and laser induced damage threshold improvement of diffraction gratings used as compressors in ultra high intensity lasers

International audienceThis paper studies gratings engraved in a multilayer dielectric stack for ultra high intensity laser compressors. A metal layer is inserted between the substrate and the dielectric stack to reduce the number of dielectric bilayers and thus the mechanical stress within the stack. A code taking account the fluctuation range of the geometrical parameters during the fabrication process is used to numerically optimize the mirror stack and study different groove profiles to increase the reflected efficiency and the laser induced damage threshold. It is evidenced that of all the profiles leading to good diffraction performances, those with the greatest groove depth and width values result in the smallest enhancement of the electric field square inside the grating with a decrease by a factor close to 2.5