Near-field properties of a shell nanocylinder pair with gain materials

We study the near-field response of a shell nanocylinder pair,with its core filled by gain materials,using a twodimensional finite-difference time-domain method.It is shown that the gain materials in the core of the cylinder can compensate for the intrinsic absorption of the metal shell,leading to local-field enhancement in the gap of the active pair.A linear dependence is found between the field enhancement and the gain coefficient at resonance.The detailed physics is studied by calculating the electrical-field distribution of the shell pair filled with different gain materials.The influence of the gap width and the shell thickness on the interaction of two adjacent active shell cylinders is also investigated.     

Control of plasmonic wave propagating in nanocavity with tooth-shaped configuration

Characteristics of plasmonic wave propagating in nanocavity formed by two silver films are studied numerically. The groove etched inside wall of the top film makes it possible to control the propagation when light goes through the top film along a nanoslit into the cavity. It is found that the transmission wave through the channel of groove etched side can be filtered linearly with the groove of a certain depth; while the other side is still open for this wave and its intensity can be enhanced periodically with the variable groove position in both films, which are explained well based on the interference of plasmonic waves in the system.     

Optimizing bowtie structure parameters for specific incident light

We investigate optical properties of a bowtie-shaped aperture using the finite difference time domain method to optimize its geometric parameters for specific incident lights.The influence of the parameters on local field enhancement and resonant wavelength in the visible frequency range is numerically analysed.It is found that the major resonance of the spectrum is exponentially depended on the bowtie angle but independent of the whole aperture size.The simulation also demonstrates that increasing the aperture size raises the local field intensity on the exit plane due to an enlarged interaction area between the light and the metal medium.And the near-field spot size is closely related to the gap.Based on these results,the design rules of the bowtie structure can be optimized for specific wavelengths excited.