Robust Subnanometric Plasmon Ruler by Rescaling of the Nonlocal Optical Response

We present the optical response of two interacting metallic nanowires calculated for separation distances down to angstrom range. State-of-the-art local and nonlocal approaches are compared with full quantum time-dependent density functional theory calculations that give an exact account of nonlocal and tunneling effects. We find that the quantum results are equivalent to those from classical approaches when the nanoparticle separation is defined as the separation between centroids of the screening charges. This establishes a universal plasmon ruler for subnanometric distances. Such a ruler not only impacts the basis of many applications of plasmonics, but also provides a robust rule for subnanometric metrology

Total Polarisation Conversion in Two-dimensional Electron System under Cyclotron Resonance Conditions

The polarisation conversion of a linear polarised electromagnetic wave incident onto a two-dimensional (2D) electron system at an angle is theoretically studied. We consider the 2D system located at the interface between two dielectric media with different dielectric constants. An external dc magnetic field is assumed to be directed along the normal to the 2D electron layer. In such a configuration the cyclotron-polaritons (CPs) in 2D electron system can be excited with the frequencies in the vicinity of the cyclotron frequency. Under the CPs excitation the resonance polarisation conversion of electromagnetic wave greatly increases in the system. In the absence of the electron scattering in 2D system, the polarisation conversion reaches 100% at a certain value of the angle of incidence which is more than the total reflection angle. Extremely high polarisation conversion takes place in a quite wide range of variation of the angle of incidence. High polarisation conversion efficiency (above 80%) remains when the actual electron scattering in the 2D system on GsAs is taken into account. The considered phenomena may be taken up in polarisation spectroscopy of 2D electron systems.Comment: 7 pages, 5 Postscript figure

Tunable Plasmon Molecules in Overlapping Nanovoids

Coupled and shape-tailored metallic nanoparticles are known to exhibit hybridized plasmon resonances. This Letter discuss the optical properties of a complementary system formed by overlapped nanovoid dimers buried in gold and filled with silica. This is an alternative route for plasmon engineering that benefits from vanishing radiation losses. Our analysis demonstrates the possibility of designing artificial plasmon molecules on the basis of void plasmon hybridization, which allows fine mode tuning by varying the overlap between voids. The proposed structures could find application to both signal processing through buried optical elements and tunable-plasmon biosensing.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Controlling light-with-light without nonlinearity

According to Huygens' superposition principle, light beams traveling in a linear medium will pass though one another without mutual disturbance. Indeed, it is widely held that controlling light signals with light requires intense laser fields to facilitate beam interactions in nonlinear media, where the superposition principle can be broken. We demonstrate here that two coherent beams of light of arbitrarily low intensity can interact on a metamaterial layer of nanoscale thickness in such a way that one beam modulates the intensity of the other. We show that the interference of beams can eliminate the plasmonic Joule losses of light energy in the metamaterial or, in contrast, can lead to almost total absorbtion of light. Applications of this phenomenon may lie in ultrafast all-optical pulse-recovery devices, coherence filters and THz-bandwidth light-by-light modulators

Nanofluidic Refractive-Index Sensors Formed by Nanocavity Resonators in Metals without Plasmons

Nanocavity resonators in metals acting as nanofluidic refractive-index sensors were analyzed theoretically. With the illumination of transverse electric polarized light, the proposed refractive index sensor structure acts as a pure electromagnetic resonator without the excitation of surface plasmons. The reflected signal from the nanocavity resonators can be very sensitive to the refractive index of the fluids inside the nanocavities due to the enhancement of the electric field of the resonant mode inside the cavities. Such a sensor configuration can be a useful tool for probing the refractive index change of the fluid inside the nanocavities using the spectral, angular or intensity interrogation schemes. The wavelength sensitivity of 430 nm/RIU, angular sensitivity of 200–1,000 deg/RIU and intensity sensitivity of 25.5 RIU−1 can be achieved in the proposed sensor configuration

High‐Color‐Purity Subtractive Color Filters with a Wide Viewing Angle Based on Plasmonic Perfect Absorbers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110824/1/adom201400533.pd

Enabling Ideal Selective Solar Absorption with 2D Metallic Dielectric Photonic Crystals

A metallic dielectric photonic crystal with solar broadband, omni-directional, and tunable selective absorption with high temperature stable (1000 °C, 24 hrs) properties is fabricated on a 6” silicon wafer. The broadband absorption is due to a high density of optical cavity modes overlapped with an anti-reflection coating. Results allow for large-scale, low cost, and efficient solar-thermal energy conversion.United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences (Award DE-FG02-09ER46577

Theoretical realization of an ultra-efficient thermal-energy harvesting cell made of natural materials

10.1039/c3ee41512kEnergy and Environmental Science6123537-354