452 research outputs found
Anderson Localization of Polar Eigenmodes in Random Planar Composites
Anderson localization of classical waves in disordered media is a fundamental
physical phenomenon that has attracted attention in the past three decades.
More recently, localization of polar excitations in nanostructured
metal-dielectric films (also known as random planar composite) has been subject
of intense studies. Potential applications of planar composites include local
near-field microscopy and spectroscopy. A number of previous studies have
relied on the quasistatic approximation and a direct analogy with localization
of electrons in disordered solids. Here I consider the localization problem
without the quasistatic approximation. I show that localization of polar
excitations is characterized by algebraic rather than by exponential spatial
confinement. This result is also valid in two and three dimensions. I also show
that the previously used localization criterion based on the gyration radius of
eigenmodes is inconsistent with both exponential and algebraic localization. An
alternative criterion based on the dipole participation number is proposed.
Numerical demonstration of a localization-delocalization transition is given.
Finally, it is shown that, contrary to the previous belief, localized modes can
be effectively coupled to running waves.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures. Paper was revised and a more precise definition
of the participation number given, data for figures recalculated accordingly.
Accepted to J. Phys.: Cond. Mat
Divergence of Dipole Sums and the Nature of Non-Lorentzian Exponentially Narrow Resonances in One-Dimensional Periodic Arrays of Nanospheres
Origin and properties of non-Lorentzian spectral lines in linear chains of
nanospheres are discussed. The lines are shown to be super-exponentially narrow
with the characteristic width proportional to exp[-C(h/a)^3] where C is a
numerical constant, h the spacing between the nanospheres in the chain and a
the sphere radius. The fine structure of these spectral lines is also
investigated.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
On the Convergence of the Born Series in Optical Tomography with Diffuse Light
We provide a simple sufficient condition for convergence of Born series in
the forward problem of optical diffusion tomography. The condition does not
depend on the shape or spatial extent of the inhomogeneity but only on its
amplitude.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Inverse Problem
Coherently tunable third-order nonlinearity in a nanojunction
A possibility of tuning the phase of the third-order Kerr-type nonlinear
susceptibility in a system consisting of two interacting metal nanospheres and
a nonlinearly polarizable molecule is investigated theoretically and
numerically. It is shown that by varying the relative inter-sphere separation,
it is possible to tune the phase of the effective nonlinear susceptibility
\chi^{(3)}(\omega;\omega,\omega,-\omega)2\pi$.Comment: 10 pages 5 figure
Multiple Projection Optical Diffusion Tomography with Plane Wave Illumination
We describe a new data collection scheme for optical diffusion tomography in
which plane wave illumination is combined with multiple projections in the slab
imaging geometry. Multiple projection measurements are performed by rotating
the slab around the sample. The advantage of the proposed method is that the
measured data can be much more easily fitted into the dynamic range of most
commonly used detectors. At the same time, multiple projections improve image
quality by mutually interchanging the depth and transverse directions, and the
scanned (detection) and integrated (illumination) surfaces. Inversion methods
are derived for image reconstructions with extremely large data sets. Numerical
simulations are performed for fixed and rotated slabs
Local anisotropy and giant enhancement of local electromagnetic fields in fractal aggregates of metal nanoparticles
We have shown within the quasistatic approximation that the giant
fluctuations of local electromagnetic field in random fractal aggregates of
silver nanospheres are strongly correlated with a local anisotropy factor S
which is defined in this paper. The latter is a purely geometrical parameter
which characterizes the deviation of local environment of a given nanosphere in
an aggregate from spherical symmetry. Therefore, it is possible to predict the
sites with anomalously large local fields in an aggregate without explicitly
solving the electromagnetic problem. We have also demonstrated that the average
(over nanospheres) value of S does not depend noticeably on the fractal
dimension D, except when D approaches the trivial limit D=3. In this case, as
one can expect, the average local environment becomes spherically symmetrical
and S approaches zero. This corresponds to the well-known fact that in trivial
aggregates fluctuations of local electromagnetic fields are much weaker than in
fractal aggregates. Thus, we find that, within the quasistatics, the
large-scale geometry does not have a significant impact on local
electromagnetic responses in nanoaggregates in a wide range of fractal
dimensions. However, this prediction is expected to be not correct in
aggregates which are sufficiently large for the intermediate- and
radiation-zone interaction of individual nanospheres to become important.Comment: 9 pages 9 figures. No revisions from previous version; only figure
layout is change
Comment on "Optical Response of Strongly Coupled Nanopraticles in Dimer Arrays" (Phys. Rev. B 71(4), 045404, 2005)
I have re-calculated the extinction spectra of aggregates of two silver
nanospheres shown in Figs.~2 and 3 of Ref.~8. I have used the approximate
method of images according to Ref.~8 and an exact numerical technique. I have
found that the three sets of data (those I have obtained by the method of
images, the numerical results, and the results published in Ref.~8) do not
coincide. In this Comment, I discuss the reasons for these discrepancies and
the general applicability of the method of images to the quasi-static
electromagnetic problem of two interacting nanospheres.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Propagation of Surface Plasmons in Ordered and Disordered Chains of Metal Nanospheres
We report a numerical investigation of surface plasmon (SP) propagation in
ordered and disordered linear chains of metal nanospheres. In our simulations,
SPs are excited at one end of a chain by a near-field tip. We then find
numerically the SP amplitude as a function of propagation distance. Two types
of SPs are discovered. The first SP, which we call the ordinary or quasistatic,
is mediated by short-range, near-field electromagnetic interaction in the
chain. This excitation is strongly affected by Ohmic losses in the metal and by
disorder in the chain. These two effects result in spatial decay of the
quasistatic SP by means of absorptive and radiative losses, respectively. The
second SP is mediated by longer range, far-field interaction of nanospheres. We
refer to this SP as the extraordinary or non-quasistatic. The non-quasistatic
SP can not be effectively excited by a near-field probe due to the small
integral weight of the associated spectral line. Because of that, at small
propagation distances, this SP is dominated by the quasistatic SP. However, the
non-quasistatic SP is affected by Ohmic and radiative losses to a much smaller
extent than the quasistatic one. Because of that, the non-quasistatic SP
becomes dominant sufficiently far from the exciting tip and can propagate with
little further losses of energy to remarkable distances. The unique physical
properties of the non-quasistatic SP can be utilized in all-optical integrated
photonic systems
Spectroscopic studies of fractal aggregates of silver nanospheres undergoing local restructuring
We present an experimental spectroscopic study of large random colloidal
aggregates of silver nanoparticles undergoing local restructuring. We argue
that such well-known phenomena as strong fluctuation of local electromagnetic
fields, appearance of "hot spots" and enhancement of nonlinear optical
responses depend on the local structure on the scales of several nanosphere
diameters, rather that the large-scale fractal geometry of the sample.Comment: 3.5 pages, submitted to J. Chem. Phy
Bound whispering gallery modes in circular arrays of dielectric spherical particles
Low-dimensional ordered arrays of optical elements can possess bound modes
having an extremely high quality factor. Typically, these arrays consist of
metal elements which have significantly high light absorption thus restricting
performance. In this paper we address the following question: can bound modes
be formed in dielectric systems where the absorption of light is negligible?
Our investigation of circular arrays of spherical particles shows that (1) high
quality modes in an array of 10 or more particles can be attained at least for
a refractive index , so optical materials like TiO or GaAs can
be used; (2) the most bound modes have nearly transverse polarization
perpendicular to the circular plane; (3) in a particularly interesting case of
TiO particles (rutile phase, ), the quality factor of the most
bound mode increases almost by an order of magnitude with the addition of 10
extra particles, while for particles made of GaAs the quality factor increases
by almost two orders of magnitude with the addition of ten extra particles. We
hope that this preliminary study will stimulate experimental investigations of
bound modes in low-dimensional arrays of dielectric particles.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review
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