Fundamental aspects of initiated oxidation of tridecane and polyethylene in solutions

Specific features of the initiated oxidation of polyethylene and its low-molecular-weight analogue tridecane, associated with the occurrence of the process in the short-chain mode, were studied.     

Analysis of NAD(P) and NAD(P)H cofactors by means of imprinted polymers associated with Au surfaces:: A surface plasmon resonance study

Crosslinked films consisting of the acrylamide-acrylamidophenylboronic acid copolymer that are imprinted with recognition sites for β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺), β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate NADP⁺, and their reduced forms (NAD(P)H), are assembled on Au-coated glass supports. The binding of the oxidized cofactors NAD⁺ or NADP⁺ or the reduced cofactors NADH or NADPH to the respective imprinted sites results in the swelling of the polymer films through the uptake of water. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy is employed to follow the binding of the different cofactors to the respective imprinted sites. The imprinted recognition sites reveal selectivity towards the association of the imprinted cofactors. The method enables the analysis of the NAD(P)⁺ and NAD(P)H cofactors in the concentration range of 1×10⁻⁶ to 1×10⁻³ M. The cofactor-imprinted films associated with the Au-coated glass supports act as active interfaces for the characterization of biocatalyzed transformations that involve the cofactor-dependent enzymes. This is exemplified with the characterization of the biocatalyzed oxidation of lactate to pyruvate in the presence of NAD⁺ and lactate dehydrogenase using the NADH-imprinted polymer film.     

All-optical active components for dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguides

Dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides (DLSPPWs) provide a very efficient means to localize and guide optical signal, which makes them a promising candidate for the construction of highly-integrated photonic circuits. Here, we present full 3D numerical modelling of highly efficient and compact all-optical active DLSPPW components to achieve a fully functioning active photonic circuit.     

Suppression of radiative losses of surface polaritons on nanostructured thin metal films

The strong electromagnetic coupling between surface plasmon polariton modes on opposite interfaces of a finite thickness periodically nanostructured metal film has been studied. Surface polariton dispersion and associated electromagnetic field distributions have been analyzed. It was shown that at a frequency that corresponds to the crossing of film Bloch modes of different symmetries, the radiative losses of surface polaritons that are related to the polaritons' coupling to light during propagation on the structured surface are suppressed.     

Polarization control of optical transmission of a periodic array of elliptical nanoholes in a metal film

The spectral dependences of polarized optical transmission of a metal film with a periodic array of elliptical nanoholes have been studied. Such nanostructured metal films exhibit enhanced broadband optical transmission that one can control by selecting the polarization of incident and (or) transmitted light.     

Single-photon tunneling in photonic crystals with deep defect states

A new design for a single-photon tunneling device based on tunneling of light through a gap in a photonic crystal linear waveguide containing a deep defect state is suggested. Unlike recently observed single-photon tunneling through nanometer scale nonlinear pinholes in a thick gold film, in the device described here the photon current should be strictly conserved. By appropriate design of the barrier width, defect level position in the bandgap, and defect spatial position in the barrier, a desired photon tunneling rate can readily be engineered.     

Broken time reversal of light interaction with planar chiral nanostructures

We report unambiguous experimental evidence of broken time-reversal symmetry for the interaction of light with an artificial nonmagnetic material. Polarized color images of planar chiral gold-on-silicon nanostructures consisting of arrays of gammadions show intriguing and unusual symmetry: structures, which are geometrically mirror images, lose their mirror symmetry in polarized light. The symmetry of images can be described only in terms of antisymmetry (black-and-white symmetry) appropriate to a time-odd process. The effect results from a transverse chiral nonlocal electromagnetic response of the structure and has some striking resemblance with the expected features of light scattering on anyon matter.     

Non-minimal pp-wave Einstein–Yang–Mills–Higgs model: color cross-effects induced by curvature

Non-minimal interactions in the pp-wave Einstein–Yang–Mills–Higgs (EYMH) model are shown to give rise to color cross-effects analogous to the magneto-electricity in the Maxwell theory. In order to illustrate the significance of these color cross-effects, we reconstruct the effective (associated, color, and color-acoustic) metrics for the pp-wave non-minimal seven-parameter EYMH model with parallel gauge and scalar background fields. Then these metrics are used as hints for obtaining explicit exact solutions of the non-minimally extended Yang–Mills and Higgs equations for the test fields propagating in the vacuum interacting with curvature. The influence of the non-minimal coupling on the test particle motion is interpreted in terms of the so-called trapped surfaces, introduced in the Analog Gravity theory.     

Low-loss multilayered metamaterial exhibiting a negative index of refraction at visible wavelengths

We experimentally demonstrate a low-loss multilayered metamaterial exhibiting a double-negative refractive index in the visible spectral range. To this end, we exploit a second-order magnetic resonance of the so-called fishnet structure. The low-loss nature of the employed magnetic resonance, together with the effect of the interacting adjacent layers, results in a figure of merit as high as 3.34. A wide spectral range of negative index is achieved, covering the wavelength region between 620 and 806 nm with only two different designs.     

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.