Control of the Radiative Heat Transfer in a Pair of Rotating Nanostructures

The fluctuations of the electromagnetic field are at the origin of the near-field radiative heat transfer between nanostructures, as well as the Casimir forces and torques that they exert on each other. Here, working within the formalism of fluctuational electrodynamics, we investigate the simultaneous transfer of energy and angular momentum in a pair of rotating nanostructures. We demonstrate that, due to the rotation of the nanostructures, the radiative heat transfer between them can be increased, decreased, or even reversed with respect to the transfer that occurs in absence of rotation, which is solely determined by the difference in the temperature of the nanostructures. This work unravels the unintuitive phenomena arising from the simultaneous transfer of energy and angular momentum in pairs of rotating nanostructures.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Radiative heat transfer between neighboring particles

The near-field interaction between two neighboring particles is known to produce enhanced radiative heat transfer. We advance in the understanding of this phenomenon by including the full electromagnetic particle response, heat exchange with the environment, and important radiative corrections both in the distance dependence of the fields and in the particle absorption coefficients. We find that crossed terms of electric and magnetic interactions dominate the transfer rate between gold and SiC particles, whereas radiative corrections reduce it by several orders of magnitude even at small separations. Radiation away from the dimer can be strongly suppressed or enhanced at low and high temperatures, respectively. These effects must be taken into account for an accurate description of radiative heat transfer in nanostructured environments. © 2012 American Physical Society.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MAT2010-14885 and Consolider NanoLight.es) and the European Commission (FP7-ICT-2009-4-248909-LIMA and FP7-ICT-2009-4-248855-N4E). A.M. acknowledges financial support through FPU from ME.Peer Reviewe

Plasmonics in Atomically Thin Materials

The observation and electrical manipulation of infrared surface plasmons in graphene have triggered a search for similar photonic capabilities in other atomically thin materials that enable electrical modulation of light at visible and near-infrared frequencies, as well as strong interaction with optical quantum emitters. Here, we present a simple analytical description of the optical response of such kinds of structures, which we exploit to investigate their application to light modulation and quantum optics. Specifically, we show that plasmons in one-atom-thick noble-metal layers can be used both to produce complete tunable optical absorption and to reach the strong-coupling regime in the interaction with neighboring quantum emitters. Our methods are applicable to any plasmon-supporting thin materials, and in particular, we provide parameters that allow us to readily calculate the response of silver, gold, and graphene islands. Besides their interest for nanoscale electro-optics, the present study emphasizes the great potential of these structures for the design of quantum nanophotonics devices.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, 107 ref

Light-matter interaction at the nanoscale Interacción de luz y materia en la nanoescala

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Departamento de Óptica, leída el 13/09/2013Depto. de ÓpticaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEunpu

Radiative Heat Transfer between Neighboring Particles

The near-field interaction between two neighboring particles is known to produce enhanced radiative heat transfer. We advance in the understanding of this phenomenon by including the full electromagnetic particle response, heat exchange with the environment, and important radiative corrections both in the distance dependence of the fields and in the particle absorption coefficients. We find that crossed terms of electric and magnetic interactions dominate the transfer rate between gold and SiC particles, whereas radiative corrections reduce it by several orders of magnitude even at small separations. Radiation away from the dimer can be strongly suppressed or enhanced at low and high temperatures, respectively. These effects must be taken into account for an accurate description of radiative heat transfer in nanostructured environments.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, fully self-contained derivation

Near-field focusing with optical phase antennas

We investigate the near-field focusing properties of three- dimensional phase antennas consisting of concentric rings designed to have source and image spots separated by several microns from the lens. Tight focal spots are obtained for silicon or gold rings patterned in a silica matrix. We analyze in detail the dependence of the performance of these lenses on geometrical parameters such as the number of rings, the ring thickness, and the focal distance. Subwavelength focal spots are found to form at distances of tens of wavelengths from the lens, thus suggesting applications to remote sensing and penlight microscopy and lithography. © 2009 Optical Society of America.This work has been supported by the Spanish MICINN (MAT2007-66050 and Consolider NanoLight.es) and by the EU (NMP4-2006-016881-SPANS and NMP4-SL-2008-213669- ENSEMBLE).Peer Reviewe