Ion-induced photon emission: Neutralization mechanism of surface plasmon excitation

A mechanism of surface plasmon excitation occurring in any, including resonant, processes of neutralization of positive and negative ions near metal surface is proposed and a model of this mechanism is developed. High efficiency of the mechanism and adequacy of the model to the ion-induced photon emission data are demonstrated. The main formulas of the model are discussed in terms of the quantum-mechanical perturbation theory and dielectric formalism.     

Effect of surface plasmon oscillations on Auger electron emission

The integrated areas of the Al L₂₃VV and O KL₂₃L₂₃ Auger peaks and the Al surface plasmon energy ?ω_S are reported for the Al(001) surface as a function of exposure to O in the exposure range 0–114 L(1 L=1langmuir=10^?6Torr sec). It is shown that for exposures below a critical value of 15 L, ?ω_S is constant within experimental error while the O Auger peak area increases linearly. For exposures above 15 L, ?ω_S decreases linearly from 10.5 eV to 8.5 eV and the O Auger peak area undergoes relatively slow linear increases correspondingly. The Al Auger peak area decreases by 30% per 1 eV decrease of ?ω_S. The results are discussed with reference to theory relating Auger transition intensities to the spectral density function.     

Terahertz surface plasmon excitation over a bismuth thin film by an electron beam

The excitation of terahertz surface plasma wave (SPW) over bismuth thin film-glass structure by a parallel propagating electron beam is studied. The SPW phase velocity is sensitive to the thickness of bismuth film and it is driven via the Cerenkov resonance. The growth rate for terahertz radiation generation by an electron beam is obtained under small signal approximation.     

Surface plasmon excitation in field ion emission

The excitation of surface plasmons in field ion spectroscopy is studied theoretically for realistic paraboloid shapes of emitting metallic tips and for finite ionization times.     

纳米银线波导中表面等离极化波激发和辐射的偏振特性研究术

在可见光波段（λ=750nm）,实验研究了在端面辅助情况下,细纳米银线波导中表面等离极化波激发和辐射的偏振特性．实验发现在细纳米银线中,不同偏振态的入射光对应的表面等离极化激元的激发和传输效率有明显不同,但对应的出射光始终为方向恒定的线偏振光．对于化学合成的纳米银线,端面的轴对称性普遍比较好,对此类纳米银线进行激发时,如果入射光偏振态与纳米线近似平行,则激发和传输表面等离极化激元的效率最高;如果正交,激发和传输效率则最低．对于某些端面轴对称性较差的纳米银线,如端面为尖端或类斜面,当入射光偏振态与纳米线有一定夹角时,激发和传输表面等离极化激元的效率最高．在入射光偏振改变的过程中出射光的偏振方向始终与纳米银线平行．最后结合有限元差分方法理论解释了纳米银线中这种偏振特性的物理机理．利用纳米银线中表面等离极化激元激发和辐射的偏振特性,可以在亚波长尺寸上实现对光强和偏振态的调控．     

The excitation and emission of terahertz surface plasmon polaritons on metal wire waveguides

The development of effective techniques for guiding pulsed terahertz radiation is essential for the continued development of terahertz spectroscopy and imaging applications based on the technique of time-domain spectroscopy. Terahertz surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be excited and guided on cylindrical metal wires with low loss and dispersion. This propagating surface wave, known as a Sommerfeld wave, possesses radial polarization, which is not well matched with conventional sources of pulsed terahertz radiation. A photoconductive terahertz antenna with radial symmetry produces radiation that more efficiently couples to the wire waveguide. At the end of the wire, terahertz SPPs emit radiation into free-space that exhibits frequency-dependent diffraction. To cite this article: J.A. Deibel et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

银纳米线表面等离激元波导的能量损耗

金属纳米结构的表面等离激元可以突破光学衍射极限,为光子器件的微型化和集成光学芯片的实现奠定基础.基于表面等离激元的各种基本光学元件已经研制出来.然而,由于金属结构的固有欧姆损耗以及向衬底的辐射损耗等,表面等离激元的传输能量损耗较大,极大地制约了其在纳米光子器件和回路中的应用.研究能量损耗的影响因素以及如何有效降低能量损耗对未来光子器件的实际应用具有重要意义.本文从纳米线表面等离激元的基本模式出发,介绍了它在不同条件下的场分布和传输特性,在此基础上着重讨论纳米线表面等离激元传输损耗的影响因素和测量方法以及目前常用的降低传输损耗的思路.最后给出总结以及如何进一步降低能量损耗方法的展望.表面等离激元能量损耗的相关研究对于纳米光子器件的设计和集成光子回路的构建有着重要作用.     

Bulk and surface plasmon excitation in X-ray photoemission

A quantitative theory of bulk and surface plasmon excitation by X-ray photoelectrons in thin metallic films is presented. The shape and strength of inelastic peaks in energy spectra are calculated. Their dependence on the point of primary excitation, energy and direction of the outgoing electron is discussed in the case of X-ray photoemission from aluminium.     

Photoelectron emission from island metallic sodium films during the excitation of localized plasmon resonances

The photoelectron emission from island sodium films is studied under the action of radiation that is resonant to the collective electron excitations in the nanoparticles forming a film. Noticeable deviations from the Fowler law and an increase in the photoelectron yield are detected. The dependences of the photoeffect efficiency from these films on their structural parameters, the polarization vector, and the angle of radiation incidence are obtained.     

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.     

Stimulated emission of surface plasmon polaritons in a microcylinder cavity

We have observed stimulated emission of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in dye-doped polymeric microcylinder cavities deposited onto gold and silver wires. The stimulated emission spectra featured a characteristic series of laser modes, with modal spacing corresponding to SPPs propagating at the interface between the metal and dielectric. A plasmonic microlaser adds to the toolbox of plasmonic devices and plasmonic metamaterials and enables on-chip plasmonic generation and loss compensation.     

Theory of second harmonic generation at a metal surface with surface plasmon excitation

Theory of second harmonic generation at a metal surface is developed, when surface plasmon-polaritons are resonantly excited by the incident electromagnetic field. For harmonic generation from small metallic spheres characterized by the dielectric function ?₁(ω) + i?₂(ω), the resonant enhancement of the second harmonic intensity is predicted to be of the order of ($\text{?}{}_1\text{?}{}_2\text{)}{}^4$. The resonant enhancement is much smaller for the case of a metallic grating.     

Coupling-induced excitation of a forbidden surface plasmon mode of a gold nanorod

Using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, we simulate the coupling between a gold nanorod and gold nanoparticles with different plasmonic resonant frequencies/volumes as well as that between the nanorod and a dielectric nanosphere. The influences of coupling with different nanoparticles on the excitation of a forbidden longitudinal surface plasmon mode of the nanorod under normal incidence are investigated. It is found that the cause of this excitation is the broken symmetry of the local electric field experienced by the nanorod resulting from the charge pileup on the other nanoparticle. This result is valuable for understanding the near-field optical characterization of plasmonic metal nanoparticles. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10821062 and 10804004), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB307001), and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 200800011023) Contributed by GONG QiHuang     

Energetic electron emission from a ferroelectric sample during incomplete surface discharge

In this paper, the results of simplified analytical modeling and particle-in-cell numerical simulations of plasma formation and propagation along the surface of a ferroelectric sample under the application of a negative driving pulse to the rear solid electrode are presented. These models allow one to reproduce the main characteristics of the incomplete discharge. In particular, it is shown that the experimentally observed energetic electrons are related to the secondary emission electron acceleration in the sheath between the plasma and the ferroelectric surface. Also, simulation results show that secondary electron emission significantly decreases the surface plasma density while increasing its propagation velocity and that high desorption rate of the neutrals is required to sustain surface plasma formation.     

Control of surface plasmon excitation via the scattering of light by a nanoparticle

We analyze the scattering of vortex pairs (the particular case of 2D dark solitons) by a single quantum vortex in a Bose–Einstein condensate with repulsive interaction between atoms. For this purpose, an asymptotic theory describing the dynamics of such 2D soliton-like formations in an arbitrary smoothly nonuniform flow of a ultracold Bose gas is developed. Disregarding the radiation loss associated with acoustic wave emission, we demonstrate that vortex–antivortex pairs can be put in correspondence with quasiparticles, and their behavior can be described by canonical Hamilton equations. For these equations, we determine the integrals of motion that can be used to classify various regimes of scattering of vortex pairs by a single quantum vortex. Theoretical constructions are confirmed by numerical calculations performed directly in terms of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. We propose a method for estimating the radiation loss in a collision of a soliton-like formation with a phase singularity. It is shown by direct numerical simulation that under certain conditions, the interaction of vortex pairs with a core of a single quantum vortex is accompanied by quite intense acoustic wave emission; as a result, the conditions for applicability of the asymptotic theory developed here are violated. In particular, it is visually demonstrated by a specific example how radiation losses lead to a transformation of a vortex–antivortex pair into a vortex-free 2D dark soliton (i.e., to the annihilation of phase singularities).     

Monolithic excitation and manipulation of surface plasmon polaritons on a vertical cavity surface emitting laser

We report the manipulation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on a thin Au layer integrated on top of the mirror of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Gratings etched into the Au layer to different depths are used to couple the light into and out of the film, and to bend the trajectory of the SPP. The result paves the way to compact integrated plasmonic devices.     

Au表面等离子体激元激发的扫描探针电子能谱

结合扫描隧道显微镜（STM）与电子能谱仪是实现表面微区元素分析的途径之一．我们将环形电子能量分析器和三维扫描探针系统相结合,建立了一台扫描探针电子能谱仪(SPEES)．通过测量针尖近场发射束流激发的Au表面能量损失谱,我们用研究了Au原子的等离子体激元激发现象．进一步通过改变针尖－样品距离,我们研究了Au等离子体激元峰与弹性散射峰的强度比随针尖－样品距离变化的关系．研究结果发现该强度比与针尖－样品距离的关系并不是单调变化,而是在一个特定位置存在极大．     

Nonlinear excitation of surface plasmon polaritons by four-wave mixing

We demonstrate nonlinear excitation of surface plasmons on a gold film by optical four-wave mixing. Two excitation beams of frequencies omega(1) and omega(2) are used in a modified Kretschmann configuration to induce a nonlinear polarization at a frequency of omega(4wm)=2omega(1)-omega(2), which gives rise to surface plasmon excitation at a frequency of omega(4wm). We observe a characteristic plasmon dip at the Kretschmann angle and explain its origin in terms of destructive interference. Despite a nonvanishing bulk response, surface plasmon excitation by four-wave mixing is dominated by a nonlinear surface polarization. To interpret and validate our results, we provide a comparison with second-harmonic generation.