基于双矩形腔边耦合波导的等离子体诱导透明效应

为了降低功耗、实现超快速响应,设计了一种基于双矩形腔边耦合等离子体波导系统,并研究了其等离子体诱导透明效应.采用光学Kerr效应超快调控石墨烯-Ag复合材料波导结构,实现1 ps量级的超快响应时间.动态调控等离子体波导的传输相移,当泵浦光强为5.83 MW/cm^2时,等离子体诱导透明系统能够实现透射光谱π相移,这是因为基于石墨烯-Ag复合材料结构等离子体波导具有大的等效光学Kerr非线性系数,表面等离子体激元局域光场和等离子体诱导透明效应慢光对光学Kerr效应产生了协同增强作用,大大降低了系统获得透射光谱π相移的泵浦光强.等离子体诱导透明效应透明窗口的可调谐带宽为40 nm,系统的群延时控制在0.15 ps到0.85 ps之间,并且光波通过间接耦合或者相位耦合机制实现了等离子体诱导透明效应相移倍增效应.耦合模式理论计算结果很好地吻合了时域有限差分法仿真模拟结果,研究结果对于低功耗、超快速非线性响应和紧凑型光子器件的设计和制作具有一定的参考意义.     

Ultra-compact graphene plasmonic filter integrated in a waveguide

Graphene plasmons have become promising candidates for deep-subwavelength nanoscale optical devices due to their strong field confinement and low damping. Among these nanoscale optical devices, band-pass filter for wavelength selection and noise filtering are key devices in an integrated optical circuit. However, plasmonic filters are still oversized because large resonant cavities are needed to perform frequency selection. Here, an ultra-compact filter integrated in a graphene plasmonic waveguide was designed, where a rectangular resonant cavity is inside a graphene nanoribbon waveguide. The properties of the filter were studied using the finite-difference time-domain method and demonstrated using the analytical model. The results demonstrate the band-pass filter has a high quality factor(20.36) and electrically tunable frequency response. The working frequency of the filter could also be tuned by modifying the cavity size. Our work provides a feasible structure for a graphene plasmonic nano-filter for future use in integrated optical circuits.     

Engineering optical gradient force from coupled surface plasmon polariton modes in nanoscale plasmonic waveguides

We explore the dispersion properties and optical gradient forces from mutual coupling of surface plasmon polariton(SPP) modes at two interfaces of nanoscale plasmonic waveguides with hyperbolic metamaterial cladding.With Maxwell's equations and Maxwell stress tensor,we calculate and compare the dispersion relation and optical gradient force for symmetric and antisymmetric SPP modes in two kinds of nanoscale plasmonic waveguides.The numerical results show that the optical gradient force between two coupled hyperbolic metamaterial waveguides can be engineered flexibly by adjusting the waveguide structure parameters.Importantly,an alternative way to boost the optical gradient force is provided through engineering the hyperbolic metamaterial cladding of suitable orientation.These special optical properties will open the door for potential optomechanical applications,such as optical tweezers and actuators.     

Plasmon-induced absorption in stacked metamaterials based on phase retardation

In this paper, based on the constructive interference of plasmonic dipolar and quadrupolar modes, a classical analogue of electromagnetically induced absorption （EIA） is demonstrated theoretically in a stacked metamaterial consisting of a short metal strip （which acts as a bright resonator） and a long metal strip （acting as a dark resonator）, which has been reported to support the electromagnetically induced transparency （EIT） effect. The transition from EIA to EIT can be clearly observed in the absorbance spectra via varying the vertical spacing between two resonant oscillators. With the help of the coupled two-oscillator model, the phase shift between the bright and dark resonance modes is calculated by fitting the simulated absorbance spectra, which reveals the physical mechanisms behind constructive and destructive interference effects in EIT/EIA metamaterials.     

Plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials

A plasmonic "molecule" consisting of a radiative element coupled with a subradiant (dark) element is theoretically investigated. The plasmonic molecule shows electromagnetic response that closely resembles the electromagnetically induced transparency in an atomic system. Because of its subwavelength dimension, this electromagnetically induced transparency-like molecule can be used as a building block to construct a "slow light" plasmonic metamaterial.     

Nanoscale solid-state single photon router

A novel scheme for a solid-state single-photon router based on a single quantum dot (QD) coupled to a nanomechanical resonator (NR) is proposed and analyzed theoretically. It relies on the coherent coupling between the quantum dot and the NR. We demonstrate that when a single-photon signal is tuned on resonance with the exciton in the QD, one can use a strong pump field to choose to what output port of this signal field is delivered, which is based on the analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect which we refer it as phonon induced transparency (PIT) in this coupled system. The path between the reflection output port and the transmission output port can be achieved by simply turning off and on the pump field. The numerical results also indicate that this router can operate efficiently in the optical regime and at ultralow pump power as well as short switching time (～ns). This nanoscale router presented here will offer potential applications in scalable solid-state quantum networks and quantum information.     

等离子体纳米结构中的Fano共振效应及其应用

Fano共振效应是一种具有非对称线型的共振散射现象,起源于共振过程和非共振过程的量子干涉效应。近年来,在等离子体纳米结构中Fano共振现象也被发现,并成为纳米光子学的一个研究热点。等离子体Fano共振通常具有较窄的光谱线宽,且不能直接与入射光耦合,只能局域在近场,强的近场局域特性可以获得巨大的表面电磁场增强。由于等离子体Fano共振独特的光学特性,已经被应用到单分子探测、高灵敏度传感、增强光谱、完美吸收、电磁诱导透明和慢光光子学器件等众多领域当中。     

Subdiffraction‐limited chemical imaging of patterned phthalocyanine films using tip‐enhanced near‐field optical microscopy

A tip‐enhanced near‐field optical microscope, based on a shear‐force atomic force microscope with plasmonic tip coupled to an inverted, confocal optical microscope, has been constructed for nanoscale chemical (Raman) imaging of surfaces. The design and validation of the instrument, along with its application to near‐field Raman mapping of patterned organic thin films (coumarin‐6 and Cu(II) phthalocyanine), are described. Lateral resolution of the instrument is estimated at 50 nm (better than λ/10), which is roughly dictated by the size of the plasmonic tip apex. Additional observations, such as the distance scaling of Raman enhancement and the inelastic scattering background generated by the plasmonic tip, are presented. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Subwavelength beam manipulation via multiple-metal slits coupled by disk-shaped nanocavity

A novel plasmonic structure consisting of three nano-scaled slits coupled by nano-disk-shaped nanocavities is pro- posed to produce subwavelength focusing and beam bending at optical frequencies. The incident light passes through the metal slits in the form of surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） ,and then scatters into radiation fields. Numerical simulations using finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method show that the transmitted fields through the design example can gener- ate light focusing and deflection by altering the refractive index of the coupled nanocavity. The simulation results indicate that the focal spot is beyond the diffraction limit. Light impinges on the surface at an angle to the optical axis will add an extra planar phase front that interferes with the asymmetric phase front of the plasmonic lens, leading to a larger bending angle off the axial direction. The advantages of the proposed plasmonic lens are smaller device size and ease of fabrication. Such geometries offer the potential to be controlled by using nano-positior!i0g systems for applications in dynamic beam shaping and scanning on the nanoscale.     

Nanoplasmonic triple-wavelength demultiplexers in two-dimensional metallic waveguides

A novel kind of plasmonic wavelength demultiplexers (WDMs) based on two-dimensional metal–insulator–metal waveguides with side coupled nanocavities (SCNCs) is proposed and numerically investigated. The WDMs contain three waveguide output channels, each of which functions as a dual-stopband plasmonic filter. The demultiplexing wavelengths can be tuned by controlling the lengths and widths of SCNCs. The finite-difference time-domain results can be accurately analyzed by the resonant theory of nanocavity. Our structures have important potential applications for design of WDM systems in highly integrated optical circuits.     

A low-threshold nanolaser based on hybrid plasmonic waveguides at the deep subwavelength scale

A novel nanolaser structure based on a hybrid plasmonic waveguide is proposed and investigated. The coupling between the metal nanowire and the high-index semiconductor nanowire with optical gain leads to a strong field enhancement in the air gap region and low propagation loss, which enables the realization of lasing at the deep subwavelength scale.By optimizing the geometric parameters of the structure, a minimal lasing threshold is achieved while maintaining the capacity of ultra-deep subwavelength mode confinement. Compared with the previous coupled nanowire pair based hybrid plasmonic structure, a lower threshold can be obtained with the same geometric parameters. The proposed nanolaser can be integrated into a miniature chip as a nanoscale light source and has the potential to be widely used in optical communication and optical sensing technology.     

Fabrication of multilayer metamaterials by femtosecond laser‐induced forward‐transfer technique

A novel method based on femtosecond laser‐induced forward transfer for high‐throughput and efficient fabrication of periodic multilayer plasmonic metamaterials is demonstrated. With precisely controlling laser raster path applied on sputtered multilayer thin films, the laser‐ablated materials can be transferred to another substrate leaving the fabricated multilayer structure on the original substrate. Subsequently, three‐dimensional metamaterials can be made by multilayer structuring. Moreover, all the experimental results show that to create such multilayer split resonant rings (SRRs) with uniform profile, the laser fluence should be fine controlled under proper conditions. The optical property of fabricated multilayer SRR array is investigated by optical measurements and finite‐difference time‐domain simulations, showing various resonant modes in the middle‐IR region. The calculated induced current distributions exhibit rich resonance properties of the structures as well. This work markedly extends the laser direct writing technique to a wide application in fabricating complicated metamaterials and plasmonic devices efficiently.     

Tuning the polarization states of optical spots at the nanoscale on the Poincaré sphere using a plasmonic nanoantenna

It is shown that the polarization states of optical spots at the nanoscale can be manipulated to various points on the Poincaré sphere using a plasmonic nanoantenna. Linearly, circularly, and elliptically polarized near-field optical spots at the nanoscale are achieved with various polarization states on the Poincaré sphere using a plasmonic nanoantenna. A novel plasmonic nanoantenna is illuminated with diffraction-limited linearly polarized light. It is demonstrated that the plasmonic resonances of perpendicular and longitudinal components of the nanoantenna and the angle of incident polarization can be tuned to obtain optical spots beyond the diffraction limit with a desired polarization and handedness.     

Magnetoelectrically coupled polariton excitation in a plasmonic crystal composed of nanorod dimers

In this work, the long wavelength optical properties of a plasmonic crystal, composed of gold nanorod dimers arranged parallel, have been studied. Due to the strong coupling between incident light and the oscillation of free electrons inside nanorod dimers, the magnetically induced and/or magnetoelectrically coupled plasmonic polaritons can be excited. A theoretical demonstration has been proposed and coupled equations that show similar profiles to the Huang-Kun equations for ionic crystals have been deduced, indicating the constitutive abnormalities and polaritonic bandgap effect. The analogy between the magnetoelectrically coupled metamaterials and ionic crystals may shed light on physical explanations, as well as constitutive parameter retrieval, for the magnetoelectric metamaterials.     

Tunable optical force on nonlinear graphene-wrapped nanoparticles

We investigate the optical force on the nonlinear graphene-wrapped nanoparticle by using the Maxwell's stress tensor together with the mean-field methods. We demonstrate the bistable optical force on the present nanoparticle which is due to the strong localized electric field in graphene at the plasmonic resonant wavelength. To further investigate the critical incident electric field for the up and down transistors, we find that the required switching-up threshold field is highly dependent on the permittivity of the nanoparticle, surrounding medium and Fermi energy instead of the relaxation time, with which one could achieve tunable nonlinear optical force on such graphene-wrapped nanoparticle to satisfy some practical purpose. Our results might supply an alternative way to manipulate nanoparticles and give the guideline for achieving the optical switching in nanoscale.     

Coupled resonant modes in twisted acoustic metamaterials

Acoustic metamaterials constructed by resonant microelements in subwavelength scale were generally characterized by the effective medium approximation theory, which neglects the interaction between adjacent elements. In this paper, we show that twisting the orientation of resonators in acoustic metamaterials produces secondary coupled resonant modes by introducing internal vibration interaction. Metamaterials composed of a single-slit Helmholtz resonator arranged in two-dimensional square lattice are investigated. We rotate a portion of the resonator so that the adjacent resonators in a ??X direction have a twist angle of ??. For the system with ??=180^°, the coupling interaction produces the symmetric coupled mode in in-phase oscillation and the antisymmetric coupled mode in out-of-phase oscillation. This acoustic analog of ??hybridization effect?? leads to a sharp transparency window in the extended locally-resonant forbidden gap, which is analogous to the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency. Such coupled resonant modes may have potential applications in sound wave manipulations such as acoustic filtering and imaging.     

Independently tunable dual resonant dip refractive index sensor based on metal—insulator—metal waveguide with Q-shaped resonant cavity

A plasmonic resonator system consisting of a metal—insulator—metal waveguide and a Q-shaped resonant cavity is proposed in this paper. The transmission properties of surface plasmon polaritons in this structure are investigated by using the finite difference in time domain (FDTD) method, and the simulation results contain two resonant dips. The physical mechanism is studied by the multimode interference coupled mode theory (MICMT), and the theoretical results are in highly consistent with the simulation results. Furthermore, the parameters of the Q-shaped cavity can be controlled to adjust the two dips, respectively. The refractive index sensor proposed in this paper, with a sensitivity of 1578 nm/RIU and figure of merit (FOM) of 175, performs better than most of the similar structures. Therefore, the results of the study are instructive for the design and application of high sensitivity nanoscale refractive index sensors.     

Toward a nanoimprinted nanoantenna to perform optical rectification through molecular diodes

This work presents investigations about the realization and modelization of rectenna solar cells. Rectennas are antennas coupled with a rectifier to convert the alternative current originating from the antenna into direct current that can be harvested and stored. By reducing the size of the antennas to the nanoscale, interactions with visible and near-infrared light become possible. If techniques such as nanoimprint lithography make possible the fabrication of sufficiently small plasmonic structures to act as optical antennas, the concept of rectenna still faces several challenges. One of the most critical point is to achieve rectification at optical frequencies. To address this matter, we propose to use molecular diodes (ferrocenyl-alkanethiol) that can be self-assembled on metallic surfaces such as gold or silver. In this paper, we present a basic rectenna theory as well as finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) optical simulations of plasmonic structures and experimental results of both nanoimprint fabrication of samples and characterizations by electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry techniques.     

Theoretical study of photon emission from single quantum dot emitter coupled to surface plasmons

Motivated by the recent pioneering advances on nanoscale plasmonics and also nanophotonics technology based on the surface plasmons (SPs), in this work, we give a master equation model in the Lindblad form and investigate the quantum optical properties of single quantum dot (QD) emitter coupled to the SPs of a metallic nanowire. Our main results demonstrate the QD luminescence results of photon emission show three distinctive regimes depending on the distance between QD and metallic nanowire, which elucidates a crossover passing from being metallic dissipative for much smaller emitter-nanowire distances to surface plasmon (SP) emission for larger separations at the vicinity of plasmonic metallic nanowire. Besides, our results also indicate that, for both the resonant case and the detuning case, through measuring QD emitter luminescence spectra and second-order correlation functions, the information about the QD emitter coupling to the SPs of the dissipative metallic nanowire can be extracted. This theoretical study will serve as an introduction to understanding the nanoplasmonic imaging spectroscopy and pave a new way to realize the quantum information devices.