Cavity Soliton Laser based on mutually coupled semiconductor microresonators

We report on experimental observation of localized structures in two mutually coupled broad-areahttp://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/images/calendar.gif semiconductor resonators. These structures coexist with a dark homogeneous background and they have the same properties as cavity solitons without requiring the presence of a driving beam into the system. They can be switched individually on and off by means of a local addressing beam

Freestanding dielectric nanohole array metasurface for mid-infrared wavelength applications

We designed and simulated freestanding dielectric optical metasurfaces based on arrays of etched nanoholes in a silicon membrane. We showed $2\pi$ phase control and high forward transmission at mid-infrared wavelengths by tuning the dimensions of the holes. We also identified the mechanisms responsible for high forward scattering efficiency and showed that these conditions are connected with the well-known Kerker conditions already proposed for isolated scatterers. A beam deflector was designed and optimized through sequential particle swarm and gradient descent optimization to maximize transmission efficiency and reduce unwanted grating orders. Such freestanding silicon nanohole array metasurfaces are promising for the realization of silicon based mid-infrared optical elements

Vanadium dioxide as a natural disordered metamaterial: perfect thermal emission and large broadband negative differential thermal emittance

We experimentally demonstrate that a thin (~150 nm) film of vanadium dioxide (VO2) deposited on sapphire has an anomalous thermal emittance profile when heated, which arises due to the optical interaction between the film and the substrate when the VO2 is at an intermediate state of its insulator-metal transition (IMT). Within the IMT region, the VO2 film comprises nanoscale islands of metal- and dielectric-phase, and can thus be viewed as a natural, disordered metamaterial. This structure displays "perfect" blackbody-like thermal emissivity over a narrow wavelength range (~40 cm-1), surpassing the emissivity of our black soot reference. We observed large broadband negative differential thermal emittance over a >10 {\deg}C range: upon heating, the VO2/sapphire structure emitted less thermal radiation and appeared colder on an infrared camera. We anticipate that emissivity engineering with thin film geometries comprising VO2 will find applications in infrared camouflage, thermal regulation, infrared tagging and labeling.Comment: 3 figure

Quantum-Coherence-Enhanced Surface Plasmon Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

We investigate surface plasmon amplification in a silver nanoparticle coupled to an externally driven three-level gain medium, and show that quantum coherence significantly enhances the generation of surface plasmons. Surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation is achieved in the absence of population inversion on the spasing transition, which reduces the pump requirements. The coherent drive allows us to control the dynamics, and holds promise for quantum control of nanoplasmonic devices.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Holographic Detection of the Orbital Angular Momentum of Light With Plasmonic Photodiodes

Metallic components such as plasmonic gratings and plasmonic lenses are routinely used to convert free-space beams into propagating surface plasmon polaritons and vice versa. This generation of couplers handles relatively simple light beams, such as plane waves or Gaussian beams. Here we present a powerful generalization of this strategy to more complex wavefronts, such as vortex beams that carry orbital angular momentum, also known as topological charge. This approach is based on the principle of holography: the coupler is designed as the interference pattern of the incident vortex beam and focused surface plasmon polaritons. We have integrated these holographic plasmonic interfaces into commercial silicon photodiodes, and demonstrated that such devices can selectively detect the orbital angular momentum of light. This holographic approach is very general and can be used to selectively couple free-space beams into any type of surface wave, such as focused surface plasmon polaritons and plasmonic Airy beams.Physic

All-optical delay line using semiconductor cavity solitons

An all-optical delay line based on the lateral drift of cavity solitons in semiconductor microresonators is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The functionalities of the device proposed as well as its performance is analyzed and compared with recent alternative methods based on the decrease of group velocity in the vicinity of resonances. We show that the current limitations can be overcome using broader devices with tailored material responses

All-optical delay line using semiconductor cavity solitons (vol 92, 011101, 2008)

Correction of Pedaci, F. and Barland, S. and Caboche, E. and Firth, W.J. and Oppo, G.L. and Tredicce, J.R. and Ackemann, T. and Scroggie, A.J. (2008) All-optical delay line using semiconductor cavity solitons. Applied Physics Letters, 92 (1). ISSN 0003-695