Optical Tamm states at the interface between a photonic crystal and a nanocomposite with resonance dispersion

Optical Tamm states localized at the edges of a photonic crystal bounded from one or both sides by a nanocomposite have been studied. The nanocomposite consists of metallic nanoinclusions, which have a spherical or orientationally ordered spheroidal shape and are dispersed in a transparent matrix, and is characterized by the resonant effective permittivity. The transmission, reflection, and absorption spectra have been calculated for waves with longitudinal and transverse polarizations in such structures at the normal incidence of light. The spectral manifestation of Tamm states that is due to the existence of negative values of the real part of the effective permittivity has been analyzed for the visible spectral range. It has been established that the characteristics of Tamm states localized at the edge of the photonic crystal depend strongly both on the concentration of nanoballs in the nanocomposite film and on its thickness. Modes formed by two coupled Tamm plasmon polaritons localized at the edges of the photonic crystal adjacent to two nanocomposite layers have been examined. It has been shown that, in the case of the anisotropic nanocomposite layer adjacent to the photonic crystal, each of two orthogonal polarizations of the incident wave corresponds to a specific frequency of the Tamm state localized at the edge; owing to this property, the transmission spectra of such a structure are polarization sensitive.     

Surface Plasmon Polaritons of Two-Dimensional Three-Order Dendritic Structures

We study surface plasmon polaritons excited on two-dimensional three-order dendritic structures. Previous studies show that split ring resonators (SRRs)
can be used to obtain magnetic resonance, thus sustaining surface waves behaving like surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). In this paper, we obtain detailed results on surface plasmon polaritons of several different grating structures and theoretically prove that this kind of structures can sustain SPPs. Besides, since dendritic structures can be fabricated by double template-assisted electrochemical deposition, it is worth noting that fabrication of SPP-based materials might be much easier.     

Tapered dielectric structure in metal as a wavelength-selective surface plasmon polariton focuser

Symmetric tapered dielectric structures in metal have demonstrated applications such as the nanofocusing of surface plasmon polaritons, as well as the waveguiding of V-channel polaritons. Yet the fabrication of smooth-surfaced tapered structure remains an obstacle to most researchers. We have successfully developed a handy method to fabricate metal-sandwiched tapered nanostructures simply with electron beam lithography. Though these structures are slightly different from conventional symmetric V-shaped structures, systematic simulations show that similar functionality of surface plasmon polariton nanofocusing can still be achieved. When parameters are properly selected, wavelength-selective nanofocusing of surface plasmon polaritons can be obtained.     

Observation of Tamm plasmon polaritons in visible regime from ZnO/Al2O3 distributed Bragg reflector - Ag interface

Ag coated ZnO/Al₂O₃ distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), which were fabricated by a modified filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique at room temperature, shown the formation of visible Tamm plasmon polaritons (TPP). By varying the thickness of Ag and top ZnO dielectric layer of the DBR, it can be verified that the excitation of dip at the stopband of the reflection spectrum is related to TPPs. As visible light was used to excite TPPs, the corresponding effective mass can be reduced to 1.3 × 10^− 5 of the free electron mass.     

Nonlinear resonance-enhanced excitation of surface plasmon polaritons

We theoretically investigate nonlinear resonance-enhanced excitation of surface plasmon polaritons in a metal coated by a one-dimensional photonic crystal. Tunneling modes above the air-light line can be directly excited in this structure. Then, with suitable parameters, photon energy and momentum conservation between the tunneling mode and the surface plasmon polaritons can be realized by means of nonlinear four-wave mixing. Compared with the nonlinear excitation of surface plasmon polaritons in a bulk metal [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 266802 (2009)], the conversion efficiency in our structure is noticeably enhanced.     

Squeezing visible light waves into a 3-nm-thick and 55-nm-long plasmon cavity

We demonstrate controlled squeezing of visible light waves into nanometer-sized optical cavities. The light is perpendicularly confined in a few-nanometer-thick SiO2 film sandwiched between Au claddings in the form of surface plasmon polaritons and exhibits Fabry-Perot resonances in a longitudinal direction. As the thickness of the dielectric core is reduced, the plasmon wavelength becomes shorter; then a smaller cavity is realized. A dispersion relation down to a surface plasmon wavelength of 51 nm for a red light, which is less than 8% of the free-space wavelength, was experimentally observed. Any obvious breakdowns of the macroscopic electromagnetics based on continuous dielectric media were not disclosed for 3-nm-thick cores.     

Ellipsometric measurement of magnetooptical nonreciprocal effects

To detect small rotation rates with a ring laser the two counter-propagating beams must be uncoupled. This lock-off can be realized using nonreciprocal optical effects yielding different optical path lengths for the two waves. Usually magnetooptical effects are employed for nonreciprocity. To measure, instead of calculating from optical constants, the magnitude of this nonreciprocal effects an ellipsometric method is proposed. Lock-off elements using Faraday or Kerr effect (polar and transverse, respectively) are treated. First measurements were made on FeNi films.     

基于塔姆激元-表面等离极化激元混合模式的单缝加凹槽纳米结构的增强透射

金属单缝纳米结构因为结构简单、易于集成,常用在基于表面等离极化激元(surface plasmon polaritons,SPPs)的纳米结构中构建光源.但是,金属亚波长单缝结构一直存在透射率低的问题,如何提高其透射率一直是研究的重点.为了更好地提高金属亚波长单缝的透射率,本文对之前文献提出的分布式布拉格反射镜(distributed bragg reflector,DBR)和金属银薄膜纳米缝结构进行改进,在金属银薄膜两侧设计凹槽.当TM偏振光由DBR侧入射至DBR-银纳米缝结构时,DBR-银膜界面上和银膜入射侧凹槽一起激发的塔姆激元(Tamm plasmon polaritons,TPPs)和SPPs,以及纳米缝和银膜出射侧凹槽对的SPPs同时激发,利用凹槽激发的SPPs和银膜表面处的TPPs-SPPs混合模式的干涉相长耦合作用,通过塔姆激元的局域场增强效应和两侧凹槽与单纳米缝的干涉相长耦合作用进一步提高了表面等离极化激元模式的激发效率,再加上纳米缝中的类法布里-珀罗腔共振效应,使纳米缝的透射率得到增强.本文采用有限元方法研究了DBR-银纳米缝结构上单纳米缝加凹槽的透射特性.经过一系列参数优化,使DBR-银纳米缝凹槽结构的最大透射率增加到0.22,相对于TiO_2-银纳米缝结构的透射率(0.01)提高了22倍,比文献[23]得到的最大透射率0.166有所提高.研究结果在纳米光源设计、光子集成电路和光学信号传输等相关领域具有一定的应用价值.     

An additional kind of nonlinear s-polarized surface plasmon polaritons

We have explored the dispersion relations for s-polarized surface plasmon polaritons guided by a metal film sandwiched between a linear substrate and a cladding with an intensity-dependent refractive index. In contrast to a previous paper we found surface plasmon polaritons for this configuration which exhibit a definite power threshold and a limited range for permitted propagation constants as well.     

Long-range surface plasmon polaritons at THz frequencies in thin semiconductor layers

We present a theoretical investigation of THz long-range surface plasmon polaritons propagating on thin layers of InSb.The metallic behavior of doped semiconductors at THz frequencies allows the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons with propagation and confinement lengths that can be actively controlled.This control is achieved by acting on the free carrier density,which can be realized by changing the temperature of InSb.     

Vector breather of surface plasmon polaritons in left-handed material

A theory of an optical vector breather of self-induced transparency of surface plasmon polaritons is constructed. The nonlinear surface TM-modes propagating along the interface separating an isotropic medium and anisotropic left-handed material are investigated. A transition layer sandwiched between the connected media is described using a model of a two-dimensional gas of semiconductor quantum dots. Explicit analytical expressions for the shape and parameters of the surface vector breathers are obtained as well as simulations of the space-time dynamics of two-dimensional vector breathers presented with realistic parameters which can be reached in current experiments. It is shown that properties of a surface vector breather with phase modulation depends on the parameters of the quantum dots, the connected media and the transverse structure of the surface wave.     

Plasmon-Assisted Phase-Matched Second- and Third-Harmonic Generation in Single-Negative Heterostructures

Dispersion relations of surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） in sandwiched optical systems are studied. The system is actually a kind of SPP waveguides, with two kinds of single negative material （SNG） as core and cladding layers, respectively. Since both TM and TE polarized SPPs can be excited in the structure, the dispersion of SPPs becomes more abundant and leads to colorful nonlinear opticM properties. The authors demonstrate the effective phase-matched second and third-harmonic generation （SHG, THG） assisted by the coupled SPPs. A cascaded second-order nonlinear process can Mso be achieved in the structure when the thickness of the core layer is properly selected, leading to the simultaneous SHG and THG. Further investigations show that much easier phase-matching can be fulfilled in the SNG waveguide array. Our results would be of potential use for surface-enhanced frequency conversion device such as light emitters or lasers.     

Perfect metamaterial absorber based on a split-ring-cross resonator

In this paper, we present a polarization-insensitive metamaterial (MM) absorber which is composed of the dielectric substrate sandwiched with split-ring-cross resonator (SRCR) and continuous metal film. The MM absorber is not limited by the quarter-wavelength thickness and can achieve near-unity absorbance by properly assembling the sandwiched structure. Microwave experiments demonstrate the maximum absorptivity to be about 99% around 10.91 GHz for incident wave with different polarizations. The surface currents distributions of the resonance structure are discussed to look into the resonance mechanism. Importantly, our absorber is only 0.4 mm thick, and numerical simulations confirm that the MM absorber could achieve very high absorptivity at wide angles of incidence for both transverse electric (TE) wave and transverse magnetic (TM) wave. The sandwiched structure is also suitable for designing of a THz and even higher frequency MM absorber, and simulations demonstrate the absorption of 99% at 1.105 THz.     

含单负材料三明治结构的电磁隧穿特性

在理论分析的基础上,结合实验研究了单负材料/正折射率材料(或单负材料)/单负材料三明治结构的电磁隧穿性质.这种结构的电磁隧穿来源于入射平面波与结构的表面或体极化激元的耦合,从理论上讨论并计算了正入射情况下这种结构中的极化激元的色散关系.发现:由单负材料作为边界而正折射率材料为中间层的三明治结构具有体极化激元,这种极化激元的共振频率随着中间层厚度的增加向低频移动;由不同性质的单负材料构成的三明治结构具有两条色散曲线,这两条色散曲线随着中间层厚度的增加而简并.随后基于L-C传输线技 关键词： 单负材料 极化激元 隧穿 L-C传输线')" href="#">L-C传输线     

Duality of Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons on the Complementary Structures of Ultrathin Metal Films

Complementary metal structures manifest a remarkable scattering feature, known as Babinet's principle. Meanwhile, for surface modes confined to one or two dimensions, the relation between the modes on complementary structures has not been thoroughly studied. Here, spoof surface plasmon polaritons supported on complementary metal films are systematically investigated. The duality of electromagnetism guarantees that these surface modes on complementary metal films possess precisely the same dispersion regardless of the geometry of the grooves, which is confirmed by both numerical simulations and experimental measurements. This work may open another avenue for spoof surface plasmon polaritons in both the theoretical and practical aspects.     

Coupled THz Waveguide Utilizing Surface Plasmon Polaritons on Thin Dielectric Slab Sandwiched between Two Corrugated Metallic Claddings

We present a comprehensive experimental study of terahertz （THz） wave propagation utilizing surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） on the interfaces of a thin dielectric core layer sandwiched between two corrugated metallic claddings. THz wave impinges on the structured surfaces at normal incidence. Long-lasting oscillation propagation features are observed in the temporal waveform after traveling through the periodic arrays. The enhanced THz transmission can be achieved due to the coupling between incident waves to SPPs at the bottom and top interfaces. The finite element method is used to simulate the field distribution and the transmission mode in the waveguide. The hybrid waveguide with low absorption has great potential applications in THz integrated devices.     

Fluorescence spectrum due to surface plasmon polariton emission in a three level atom

The dynamics of a V-type three level atom positioned inside a metallic slab sandwiched between two asymmetric infinite dielectrics is studied. The surface plasmon polaritons supported by this structure are calculated, quantized and their dispersions are found to exhibit plasmonic band gaps which in turn modify the spontaneous transition rates and the fluorescence spectrum. Interesting features arise from the variations of the decay rate and spectrum with the mode frequency and electron density including local field effects.     

Enhanced optical absorption for photovoltaics via excitation of waveguide and plasmon-polariton modes

We study theoretically the mechanisms by which optical absorption is enhanced in an optical nanostructure consisting of a slab waveguide, made of a-Si:H, sandwiched between a periodic array of metallic nanowires and a substrate, both made of Au. We demonstrate that for the TM polarization the optical absorption in the slab waveguide can be enhanced by almost an order of magnitude by the excitation of plasmon modes, whereas for both the TM and TE polarizations the grating-induced excitation of slab waveguide modes leads to more than twofold enhancement of the optical absorption.     

Plasmon-polariton transport in metal-nanoparticle chains embedded in a gain medium

Plasmon-polariton transport on chains of noncontacting noble-metal nanoparticles suffers from severe attenuation. A possible way of countering the attenuation by embedding the nanoparticle chain in an optical-gain medium is considered. It is found that short-wavelength surface polaritons can acquire exponential growth that can counter nonradiative loss. This is most pronounced for modes polarized transverse to the chain axis immediately outside the light line; this growth factor is likely to be sufficient to counterbalance losses and so lead to low-attenuation propagation of plasmon polaritons in nanoparticle chains.