金属-光折变材料复合全息结构对表面等离激元的波前调控

表面等离激元(surface plasmon polaritons, SPPs)控制具有重要意义.表面电磁波全息法是在金属表面设计能有效控制SPP传输的凹槽阵列结构.本文提出一种新的SPP传输的控制方法,利用金属-光折变材料复合全息结构控制SPP传播.在金属表面覆盖一层光折变材料,两束SPP波在光折变材料内干涉生成全息结构,利用此全息结构能够控制SPP的传播.通过时域有限差分法模拟验证,结果显示,通过金属-光折变材料复合全息结构可以有效地控制SPP波束的传输,实现SPP平面波束的单点聚焦、两点聚焦,以及生成零阶和一阶高斯SPP波束.经过优化发现,光折变材料的最佳厚度为3.3μm,最佳折射率调制度为0.06.现有SPP控制器件主要是通过离子束刻蚀,而金属-光折变材料复合全息结构不需要刻蚀,从而扩展了SPP控制的器件的制作方法,为SPPs的全光控制提供了新的思路,使SPP全光控制成为可能,进一步实现了SPP全光开关等功能.     

Surface plasmon-polaritons wave fields in the vicinity of a metallic nanohole

It is shown that metal surface with a nanohole can support surface plasmon-polaritons (SPP), whose wave fields are described by Hankel functions. These plasmons can be excited by an electromagnetic wave incident at the metal surface. The optical transmission through subwavelength holes in metal films can essentially be enhanced by interaction of the incident light with surface plasmons. Dependence of excitation of the wave field of SPP on the incidence angle and on the wavelength of incident light is considered.     

Propagation of femtosecond surface plasmon polariton pulses on the surface of a nanostructured metallic film: space-time complex amplitude characterization

Ultrashort surface plasmon polariton (SPP) pulses, propagating on the surface of a nanostructured metallic film, are characterized in space and time using time-resolved spatial-heterodyne imaging. Optical pulses are coupled from free space into various surface modes using a 2D array of circular nanoholes, and spatial amplitude and phase characteristics of the scattered surface field are measured with femtosecond-scale time resolution. Demonstrated in-plane focusing of SPP pulse provides additional electromagnetic field localization with possible applications in SPP nanophotonics, nonlinear surface dynamics, biochemical sensing, and ultrafast surface studies.     

Reflection of Surface Plasmon Polaritons by a Corner Reflector of Negative Index Materials

A novel type of corner reflector for the reflection of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) is proposed. The reflector consists of two layers of compensatory media whose permittivity and permeability take opposite signs to that of the corresponding layer of the SP waveguide. By rigorously solving Maxwell's equations, the reflected SPP is proved to exist. The transverse wave vector of the reflected SPP is always antiparallel to that of the incident SPP and no phase retardation is introduced.     

干涉高斯光诱导的表面等离子激元驻波场的分析

考虑到实际入射光强的空间分布不均匀,基于Kretschmann模型并采用角谱方法分析模拟了两束高斯光干涉诱导表面等离子激元(SPP)驻波场。与理想平面波不同,高斯光诱导的SPP干涉条纹幅值大小不等,分布复杂,这表明光强空间非均匀程度会严重地影响到曝光深度的分布。还分析了金属薄膜的厚度、损耗以及光刻胶的介电常数对SPP驻波场的影响,并得出不恰当的金属板厚和细微损耗都会极大削弱SPP驻波场,而如果光刻胶的介电常数过大则有可能产生不了表面等离子体共振的结论。     

一维金属光栅的光学反射吸收

利用RCWA(rigid coupled-wave analysis)方法研究了一维金属光栅的反射特性,考察了 瑞利反常、表面等离激元驻波共振和几何共振三种共振吸收机理,分析了这三种机理的相互作用,如表面等离激元驻波共振和几何共振可以形成混合模式. 在反射式复合金属光栅中,确认了第四种共振形式,即相位共振. 数值计算表明相位共振对光学吸收的影响有两种形式: 当光栅周期大于一个波长时,相位共振导致尖锐的吸收峰,峰位在几何共振吸收峰一侧;当光栅周期小于一个波长时,相位共振导致混合模式的共振吸收峰发生劈裂. 对一维金属光栅反射特性的研究增加了对金属光栅共振吸收模式及其相互作用的认识. 关键词： 一维金属光栅 瑞利反常 表面等离激元 相位共振     

Apertureless SNOM imaging of the surface phonon polariton waves: what do we measure?

The apertureless scanning near-field microscope (ASNOM) mapping of surface phonon polariton (SPP) waves being excited at the surface of the SiC polar crystal at a frequency corresponding to the lattice resonance was investigated. The wave with well-defined direction and source position, as well as a well-known propagation law, was used to calibrate the signal of an ASNOM. An experimental proof is presented showing that the signal collected by the ASNOM in such a case is proportional (as a complex number) to the local field amplitude above the surface, regardless of the tip response model. It is shown that the expression describing an ASNOM response, which is, in general case, rather complicated nonlinear function of a surface/tip dielectric constants, wavelength, tip vibration amplitude, tip shape etc., can be dramatically simplified in the case of the SPP waves mapping in a mid-IR range, due to a lucky combination of the tip and surface parameters for the case being considered. A tip vibration amplitude is much less than a running SPP wave field decay height in a normal direction. At the same time, the tip amplitude is larger than a characteristic distance at which a tip–surface electromagnetic near-field interaction plays a significant role.     

表面等离子波导及应用

本文在介绍表面等离子波导基本理论的基础上,主要对表面等离子波导的若干应用进行综述, 包括基于表面等离子波导实现的光学和微波频段的慢波效应、类电磁感应透明现象、可调滤波器,以及通过对电磁波绕射而实现的隐身效应等。最后指出该领域存在的问题与挑战, 并对今后的发展趋势进行了展望。分析认为,通过引入增益介质、采用超导材料等方法降低表面等离子波导材料的损耗、减少工艺制作的难度是今后亟待解决的问题。     

Guiding light at the nanoscale: numerical optimization of ultrasubwavelength metallic wire plasmonic waveguides

We present a comprehensive numerical analysis of the guiding of a photonic signal in the form of a strongly confined asymmetric surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode along metallic nanowire waveguides. The proposed approach provides extremely high localization of the SPP mode, nanoscale integration density, and a feasible technological platform. The waveguide performance was studied over a broad range of subwavelength cross sections at a telecommunication wavelength. It was optimized using a conventional figure of merit for data transfer along a straight waveguide and an all-inclusive figure of merit has been introduced.     

Extraordinary optical transmission through metal gratings with single and double grooved surfaces

We investigate the transmission properties of a normally incident TM plane wave through metal films with periodic parabolic-shaped grooves on single and double surfaces using the finite-difference-time-domain method. Nearly zero transmission efficiency is found at wavelengths corresponding to surface plasmon excitation on a flat surface in the case where the single surface is grooved. Meanwhile, resonant excitation of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) Bloch modes leads to a strong transmission peak at slightly larger wavelengths. When the grating is grooved on double surfaces, the transmission enhancement can be dramatically improved due to the resonant tunnelling between SPP Bloch modes.     

Thermally driven sensitive surface phonon polariton modes in thin-film SiC

The results of this work show that significant changes to the spectral properties of thermal emission may be accomplished by taking advantage of surface phonon polariton (SPP) modes that are very sensitive to small refractive index changes. Surface phonon polaritons are interface restricted wave modes that do not usually participate in thermal radiative energy exchange. In this work, the possibility of varying the spectral properties by using a thin-film surface active material, layered between dielectrics, is explored. Unlike surface gratings, the multilayered structure discussed in this work couples the surface modes into radiative modes using subtle changes in refractive index. The proposed multilayer effect is studied by first developing the SPP mode dispersion relation to identify the spectral location of the surface modes. The relationship between SPP coupling and refractive index change is then developed. The fluctuation-dissipation theorem and an impedance boundary condition is used to theoretically show how thermal radiation can excite SPP modes. Results are then presented that show how film thickness and substrate properties act to support SPP modes that are particularly sensitive to changes in refractive index and therefore offers opportunities for dramatic changes to the spectral properties.     

气体压强及表面等离激元影响表面波等离子体电离发展过程的粒子模拟

基于表面等离激元 (SPP) 的表面波等离子体 (SWP) 源, 具有高密度、低温度及高产率等优异性能, 其应用在电子器件微纳加工、材料改性等领域. 但由于SPP激励SWP放电的电离过程难于用理论分析和实验测量描述, 因而SWP源均匀稳定产生的电离发展过程一直未研究清晰. 本文以SWP放电的数值模拟为研究手段, 采用等离子体与电磁波相互作用的粒子模拟 (PIC) 方法, 结合蒙特卡罗碰撞 (MCC) 方法处理碰撞效应的优势, 研究气体压强影响电离过程的电磁能量耦合机理. 模拟结果表明SWP的高效产生是SPP的局域增强电场致使, 气体压强能够改变波模共振转换的出现时刻而影响了SWP的电离发展过程. 本文的研究成果展示了SPP维持SWP放电的电离过程, 可为下一代米级SWP源的参数优化提供设计建议. 关键词： 表面波等离子体 表面等离激元 粒子模拟 电离过程     

Non‐Locality Effects in Excitation and Spatial Propagation of Surface Plasmon‐Polaritons

This work investigates the influence of non‐locality in the dielectric response on the spatio‐temporal evolution of surface plasmon‐polaritons (SPP). SPP excitations are coherently generated by a quantum scatterer in the vicinity of a flat metal interface. It is demonstrated that the excited non‐equilibrium SPP population eventually splits into two coherent localized wave packets. One packet propagates along the interface and the other is centered in the vicinity of the scatter. The amplitude of both waves slowly decreases due to several relaxation mechanisms, with the Landau damping being the strongest. The non‐locality of the metallic dielectric response considerably influences spatial profiles of the plasmon field intensity, in particular, leading to coherent spatio‐temporal oscillations between the two wave packets.     

Coupling effect of surface plasmon polaritons in single-negative lamellar heterostructure

Propagation characteristics of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in the lamellar heterostructure, which is actually a SPP waveguide array, constructed by two kinds of single negative (SNG) material layers stacked alternatively are investigated. Based on the finite element method (FEM), the negative-refraction (NR) property is demonstrated when the electromagnetic wave penetrates through free space into such SNG lamellar structure. A clear view of the underlying physics of NR is presented qualitatively that is mainly related to the coupled SPPs. The strong coupling effect leads to the novel SPP dispersion curves and then the anomalous propagation characteristics.     

Plasmonic coupler based on the nanoslit with bump

In this paper, we propose a plasmonic coupler which is composed of a nanoslit with a bump. The slit is used to generate surface plasmon polariton (SPP), and the bump is employed as a SPP reflector. It is found that the phase difference between the SPP propagating the opposite direction to the bump and the one reflected by the bump can be periodically adjusted by the distance between the center of slit and the bump. When the constructive interference between the two SPPs occurs, the proposed structure can be regarded as a undirectional plasmonic coupler. Moreover, we also find that the propagation of the interfering SPPs is influenced by the width and length of bump. It is expected that our results may be utilized to control the electromagnetic wave in subwavelength optics.     

Morphological effects on surface-plasmon-polariton waves at the planar interface of a metal and a columnar thin film

A theoretical study predicts that surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves may propagate along the interface of a columnar thin film (CTF) and a metal over a range of propagation directions relative to the morphology of the CTF. The range of propagation directions depends on the tilt of the columns in the CTF. The phase speed of the SPP wave varies mainly as a function of the tilt of the CTF columns. Both the confinement of the SPP wave to the interface and the decay of the SPP wave along the direction of propagation depend strongly on the direction of propagation relative to the morphologically significant plane of the CTF. The greater the columnar tilt in relation to the interface, the shorter is the range of propagation. Because of CTF porosity and the ability to engineer this biaxial dielectric material, the CTF–metal interface may be more attractive for sensor applications than the traditional dielectric–metal interface used for SPP-wave-based sensors.     

Fraunhofer diffraction of the plane wave by a multilevel (quantized) spiral phase plate

We obtain an analytical expression in the form of a finite sum of plane waves that describes the paraxial scalar Fraunhofer diffraction of a limited plane wave by a multilevel (quantized) spiral phase plate (SPP) bounded by a polygonal aperture. For several topological charges of the SPP we numerically obtain the minimal number of SPP sectors for which the RMS between the Fraunhofer diffraction patterns for multilevel and continuous SPP does not exceed 2%.     

Characterization of polarization states of surface plasmon polariton modes by Fourier-plane leakage microscopy

We demonstrate that the polarization states of guided wave surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes can be unambiguously identified by introducing a linear polarizer in the optical path of the light within a leakage-based microscope. We show the use of Fourier-plane leakage-based microscopy as a polarization characterization method to study the polarization states of SPP modes excited in plasmonic waveguides. Our results indicate that the inclusion of a linear polarizer provides additional image processing capabilities to leakage-based microscopes.     

超表面上表面等离激元波的光栅衍射行为研究

本文利用严格数值仿真研究了550~700 nm波段的可见光通过金属光栅耦合方式激发的表面等离激元(SPP)波在金属表面的光栅衍射行为与现象。研究结果表明:SPP波在金属表面的衍射行为与自由空间光相比有极大不同,由于SPP波的近场属性,经金属光栅衍射后在近场可表现出明显的光栅分光现象,但经过一段传输距离后则分光现象消失而表现为不同级次的光合为同一束光;在近场衍射情况下,其情况与自由空间光衍射行为类似,对SPP亚波长金属光栅来说同样只有零级透射光;而当金属光栅周期大于SPP波长时,高级衍射级次则开始出现。研究结果对下一步在金属表面上实现微米级片光谱仪器具有重要借鉴意义。     

Anomalous transmission of terahertz wave through one-dimensional lamellar metallic grating

The anomalous transmission through one-dimensional lamellar metallic gratings was investigated in terahertz (THz) regime. The extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) is identified to originate from two possible ways: coupling of incident light with waveguide resonances and coupling of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at the upper and lower interfaces of metal grating. The dual effects of SPPs have been clarified in this study: (i) the excitation of SPP modes at each individual interface results in the weakness of the THz wave transmission; and (ii) the coupling of SPP modes at two interfaces of metal grating is attributed to enhancement of THz wave transmission. The enhanced transmission is dominated by the coupling of incident light with transverse waveguide resonances. Numerical simulation based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) agrees well with experimental results.