Terahertz radiation from interaction between an electron beam and a planar surface plasmon structure

The possibility of an electron beam exciting surface plasmons in conducting metal is discussed in this paper. A planar perfect-structure with subwavelength holes is proposed. The phenomenon that mimicking surface plasmon waves can be excited and amplified by an electron beam is proved theoretically and numerically. The mechanism of transmission through a subwavelength hole array is exploited to enhance the interaction between the electron beam and the mimicking surface plasmons.     

截面形状对快电子激发纳米双线表面等离激元的影响

采用边界元方法研究了快电子在金属纳米双线中激发间隙表面等离激元(SPP)的性质,比较了在不同横截面形状(包括圆形、尖劈形和不规则形状)下电子所激发SPP的不同.研究表明:在以上波导结构中,快电子都能激发具有较长传播距离和较好局域性的低阶单级-单级耦合的间隙等离激元模式;同时通过对波导无量纲价值参数的比较,发现快电子在纳米双线中激发间隙等离激元对双线波导的横截面形状要求不高,横截面形状真正影响的是高阶等离激元模式的激发,而且快电子在截面形状为尖劈的双线波导中能激发局域性更强的间隙SPP.该研究将对实验中利用 关键词： 表面等离激元 间隙模式 金属纳米波导     

Optical absorption by surface plasmons in deep sub-wavelength channels

The interaction of visible light with surface plasmons in a periodic array of silver channels is studied experimentally and theoretically. Channels of width 130 nm and depth 280 nm on a pitch of 468 nm were fabricated using electron beam lithography. Measurements of the reflectance of the channels show strong absorption for a specific angle of incidence at a given wavelength of the light. It is shown using a simple geometric model that this is consistent with the excitation and propagation of surface plasmons in the deep sub-wavelength channels. A numerical simulation of the electromagnetic fields excited in the channels confirms this result.     

Modulation of multiple photon energies by use of surface plasmons

A form of optical modulation at low pulse rates is reported in the case of surface plasmons excited by 1.55-microm photons in a thin gold foil. Several visible-photon energies are shown to be pulsed by the action of the infrared pulses, the effect being maximized when each visible beam also excites surface plasmons. The infrared surface plasmons are implicated as the primary cause of thermally induced changes in the foil. The thermal effects dissipate in sufficiently small times so that operation up to the kilohertz range in pulse repetition frequency is obtained. Unlike direct photothermal phenomena, no phase change is necessary for the effect to be observed.     

Generation and near-field imaging of Airy surface plasmons

We demonstrate experimentally the generation and near-field imaging of nondiffracting surface waves, plasmonic Airy beams, propagating on the surface of a gold metal film. The Airy plasmons are excited by an engineered nanoscale phase grating, and demonstrate significant beam bending over their propagation. We show that the observed Airy plasmons exhibit self-healing properties, suggesting novel applications in plasmonic circuitry and surface optical manipulation.     

Plasma bands in graphite

The π + σ plasmons in a strongly oriented pyrolitic graphite were studied experimentally using the characteristic electron energy loss technique with an angular resolution in the reflection mode. It was established that the bulk intralayer π + σ plasma bands have two branches with a positive and a negative dispersion, respectively. Each dispersion branch of the π + σ plasmons is a doublet. The interlayer plasmons are characterized by a positive dispersion coefficient only. The results are interpreted qualitatively based on the special features of the electronic band spectrum of graphite. The doublet arises because both dipole and multipole interband transitions similar in intensity are excited in graphite exposed to electron bombardment.     

New Plasmon Waveguides Composed of Twin Metal Wedges with a Nano Gap

We have numerically shown the existence of coupled wedge plasmons (CWPs) which propagates along a nano gap of a twin metal wedge. The CWPs are formed by wedge plasmons which can interact with each other. The dispersion relations of the wavenumber, propagation distance, and beam area of CWPs, are described and show that the characteristics of CWPs are similar to those of wedge plasmons and of gap plasmons. We also propose a new plasmon waveguide composed of twin metal wedges with a nano gap.     

Selective excitation of multipolar surface plasmon in a graphene-coated dielectric particle by Laguerre Gaussian beam

Localized surface plasmonic resonance has attracted extensive attention since it allows for great enhancement of local field intensity on the nanoparticle surface. In this paper, we make a systematic study on the excitation of localized surface plasmons of a graphene coated dielectric particle. Theoretical results show that both the intensity and frequency of the plasmonic resonant peak can be tuned effectively through modifying the graphene layer. Furthermore, high order localized surface plasmons could be excited and tuned selectively by the Laguerre Gaussian beam, which is induced by the optical angular orbital momentum transfer through the mutual interaction between the particle and the helical wavefront.Moreover, the profiles of the multipolar localized surface plasmons are illustrated in detail. The study provides rich potential applications in the plasmonic devices and the wavefront engineering nano-optics.     

Surface chemistry of hot electron and metal-oxide interfaces

Fundamental mechanisms for energy conversion and dissipation on surfaces and at interfaces have been significant issues in the community of surface science. Electronic excitation in exothermic chemical reactions or photon absorption involves the generation of energetic or hot electrons that are not in thermal equilibrium via non-adiabatic electronic excitation. A number of experimental and theoretical studies have demonstrated the influence of excited hot electrons on atomic and molecular processes, and it is a key moderator in the surface energy conversion process. The charge transfer through the metal-oxide interfaces has a significant impact on catalytic performance in mixed metal-oxide catalysts. In order to understand the influence of hot electrons and metal-oxide interfaces on the surface reactions, various detection schemes of exoelectron detection, including metal-insulator-metal and metal-semiconductor Schottky diodes, have been developed. Catalysts coupled with surface plasmons exhibit peculiar catalytic performance related to hot electron flow. In this review, we outline recent research efforts to relate hot electron flow with surface reactions occurring at metal-oxide interfaces. We report recent studies on the observation of hot electrons and the correlation between hot electrons and catalytic activity and selectivity on metallic surfaces. We show recent results from studies of surface reactions on nanocatalysts coupled with surface plasmons, where hot electron transport is the key process in energy dissipation and conversion processes.     

Enhancement of Smith—Purcell radiation with surface-plasmon excitation

With the aid of a three-dimensional particle-in-cell code simulation,the enhancement of Smith-Purcell radiation with a surface-plasmon mode excited by a single electron bunch and by a premodulated electron beam is considered in the paper.In the simulation,the model is a grating covered by Ag film.The results demonstrate that when the surface-plasmon mode is excited by a single electron bunch,the maximum radiation occurs at an observation angle depending on the surface-plasmon frequency,and the radiation power can be enhanced more than ten times.And for pre-bunched electron beam excitation,when one of the harmonics of the bunching frequency is resonant with that of the surface-plasmon mode,the radiation power is twenty times more than that from a perfectly conducting grating excited by the same premodulated electron beam.     

Tailoring terahertz near-field enhancement via two-dimensional plasmons

We suggest a novel possibility for electrically tunable terahertz near-field enhancement in flatland electronic materials supporting two-dimensional plasmons, including recently discovered graphene. We employ electric-field effect modulation of electron density in such materials and induce a periodic plasmonic lattice with a defect cavity. We demonstrate that the plasmons resonantly excited in such a periodic plasmonic lattice by an incident terahertz radiation can strongly pump the cavity plasmon modes leading to a deep subwavelength concentration of terahertz energy, beyond λ/1000, with giant electric-field enhancement factors up to 10(4), which is 2 orders of magnitude higher than achieved previously in metal-based terahertz field concentrators.     

Electrical excitation of surface plasmons

We exploit a plasmon mediated two-step momentum down-conversion scheme to convert low-energy tunneling electrons into propagating photons. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along an extended gold nanowire are excited on one end by low-energy electron tunneling and are then converted to free-propagating photons at the other end. The separation of excitation and outcoupling proves that tunneling electrons excite gap plasmons that subsequently couple to propagating plasmons. Our work shows that electron tunneling provides a nonoptical, voltage-controlled, and low-energy pathway for launching SPPs in nanostructures, such as plasmonic waveguides.     

Instability of a tubular electron beam moving over a dielectric cylinder

The mechanism of interactions between the eigenwaves of a dielectric cylinder and a nonrelativistic tubular electron beam moving over its surface has been considered theoretically. A dispersion relation for the coupled waves of beam electrons and the dielectric cylinder has been derived. The conditions for coupled wave instability have been formulated and an expression for instability increments has been found. It follows from the dispersion relation and the expression for the increments that electric waves with high azimuthal indices are excited most effectively at a narrow gap between the beam and cylinder.     

阴极荧光在表面等离激元研究领域的应用

表面等离激元以其独特的光学性质广泛应用于纳米尺度的局域电磁场增强、超高分辨成像及微弱光电探测.阴极荧光是电子与物质相互作用而产生的光学响应,利用电子束激发金属纳米结构能够实现局域等离激元共振,并在亚波长尺度实现对共振模式的调控,具有超高空间分辨的成像特点.阴极荧光探测通常结合扫描电子显微镜或透射电子显微镜而实现,目前己被应用于表面等离激元的探测及共振模式的分析.本文从阴极荧光物理机理出发,综述了单一金属纳米结构和金属耦合结构的等离激元共振模式阴极荧光研究进展,并总结了阴极荧光与角分辨、时间分辨以及电子能量损失谱等关键技术相结合的应用,进一步分析了其面临的关键问题,最后展望了阴极荧光等离激元研究方向.     

Surface plasmon interference excited by tightly focused laser beams

We show that interfering surface plasmon polaritons can be excited with a focused laser beam at normal incidence to a plane metal film. No protrusions or holes are needed in this excitation scheme. Depending on the axial position of the focus, the intensity distribution on the metal surface is either dominated by interferences between counterpropagating plasmons or by a two-lobe pattern characteristic of localized surface plasmon excitation. Our experiments can be accurately explained by use of the angular spectrum representation and provide a simple means for locally exciting standing surface plasmon polaritons.     

Damping of excited molecules located above a metal surface

This paper presents numerical results of a theory for how excited molecules, located above a metal surface, are damped due to excitation of electron—hole pairs and bulk plasmons in the metal. The theory is compared with experiments for the special case of vibrationally excited molecules adsorbed directly on the metal surface.     

A Particle-in-Cell Simulation Study on Harmonic Waves Excited by Electron Beams in Unmagnetized Plasmas

The excitation of harmonic waves by an electron beam is studied with electrostatic simulations.The results suggest that the harmonic waves are excited during the linear stage of the simulation and are developed in the nonlinear stage.First,the Langmuir waves(LWs)are excited by the beam electrons.Then the coupling of the forward propagating LWs and beam modes will excite the second harmonic waves.The third harmonic waves will be produced if the lower velocity side of the beam still has a positive velocity gradient.The beam velocity decreases at the same time,which provides the energy for wave excitation.We find that it is difficult to excite the harmonic waves with the increase of the thermal velocity of the beam electrons.The beam electrons will be heated after waves are excited,and then the part of the forward propagating LWs will turn into electron acoustic waves under the condition with a large enough intensity of beam electrons.Moreover,the action of ions hardly affects the formation of harmonic waves.     

Excitation of surface plasmons by electrons in a parabolic beam

A theory is presented for the excitation of surface plasmons by an electron beam following a non-touching path above a metal surface in Born approximation. The metal is assumed to possess only surface plasmon excitations. Configurations involving deflection of the electron beam in a parallel plate condensor, and by scattering from a field emission tip are envisaged. The relation between experimental conditions and the validity of the semiclassical approximation is discussed. The region of space above the surface in which scattering occurs is calculated, but the feasability of the experiment depends on electron optical factors which are outlined.     

Design of terahertz beam splitter based on surface plasmon resonance transition

According to the resonance transition between propagating surface plasmon and localized surface plasmon, we demonstrate a design of beam splitter that can split terahertz wave beams in a relatively broad frequency range. The transmission properties of the beam splitter are analyzed utilizing the finite element method. The resonance transition between two kinds of plasmons can be explained by a model of coherent electron cloud displacement.     

Production of nonisothermal electrons and Langmuir waves because of colliding ion holes and trapping of plasmons in an ion hole

We present new simulation studies exhibiting production of nonisothermal electron distributions and Langmuir waves by colliding ion holes and trapping of plasmons in an ion hole. We find that, during head-on ion hole collisions, streams of accelerated electrons are produced by the electrostatic potentials supporting the ion holes. Subsequently, Langmuir waves are excited by a two-stream instability involving energetic electron beams. The resulting Langmuir waves can be trapped in an ion hole. The present ion-hole-Langmuir wave interactions are unique kinetic phenomena which can be dealt with a Vlasov code, which we developed recently. The results can have relevance to the understanding of particle and field data that are forthcoming from different spacecraft missions in Earth's auroral ionosphere and the magnetosphere.