Tunable grating-assisted surface plasmon resonance by use of nano-polymer dispersed liquid crystal electro-optical material

This paper reports on the experimental observation of the displacement of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) excited by a metallic diffraction grating. This effect is achieved by the use of an electro-optical material composed of nano-sized droplets of liquid crystals dispersed in a host polymer. The average refractive index of this material in the form of a thin film on the undulated metal surface can be modified with the application of an external electric field and to tune the wavelength at which the SPR excitation leads to a reflection minimum. The theoretical design and experimental demonstration of the principle of this component are described.     

Method of frustrated total reflection in spectroscopy of surface polaritons in almost perfectly conducting metals

The standard technique for surface polaritons excitation by a prism coupling in Otto configuration is applied for investigation of almost perfectly conducting (pec) metals like tantalum irradiated by a collimated He-Ne laser radiation (λ ₀ = 632.8 nm). In pec metals the imaginary part of the relative dielectric permittivity (ɛ″) is quite larger than the modulus of the real part of the same quantity (ɛ′ < 0, ɛ″ ≫ | ɛ′ |). Under this condition the single Lorentz dip of the reflectivity coefficient is proven to exist and is given in an analytical form, which follows from simplification of the usual multilayer Fresnel formula. In the case of a deterministically curved metal surface an approximate solution to the reduced Rayleigh integral equation appropriate for the Otto configuration is also given. These two theoretical deductions are compared with experimental data that have been produced by us for the reflectivity into the prism region from a bulk tantalum sample.     

Analytical Investigation of Transmission Properties of Metallic Gratings

We re-examine the classical one-dimensional transmission grating to explain the enhanced transmission in the surface impedance approximation. The nearly zero transmission and extraordinary transmission phenomena related to the surface plasmon are presented by analysing the scattering amplitude of waveguide mode at the output surface of grating. It is revealed that the transmission peaks are related to the Fabry-Perot factor and the interaction of surface plasmon and other diffractive orders.     

Talbot effect in metallic gratings under Gaussian illumination

Metallic gratings can be found in applications such as optical metrology. Due to their fabrication process, the surface presents a certain roughness. In this work, the effect of roughness on Talbot effect has been analyzed when the grating is illuminated with a Gaussian beam. A model based on Fresnel regime is used in order to determine the intensity distribution in the near field. Contrast of the self-images is obtained and it is found that it decreases in terms of the distance between the grating and the observation plane. When the autocorrelation function of roughness presents a Gaussian behaviour, the diffracted beams are still Gaussian although some of their properties change. For example, the width of the diffracted beams increases with respect to the case of the standard chrome on glass gratings. On the other hand, the power of each diffracted beam is independent on the roughness properties of the surface.     

Infrared Femtosecond Laser Direct-Writing Digital Volume Gratings in Fused Silica

We demonstrate that digital volume gratings can be fabricated in fused silica glass conveniently by direct femtosecond laser writing. The diffraction efficieneies of volume gratings can be essentially modulated by simply stacking and offsetting the unit structure. A series of volume gratings, which have the pitches of 5 μm and the size of 1 mm × 1 mm, have been fabricated with the writing speed of 500μm/s, with which the processing period of each grating layer could be reduced to several minutes with a 1-kHz femtoseeond laser system. Results show that the power spectrum of the diffracted waves of the volume gratings are dependent on the layer gap and layer offsetting.     

Fabrication of blazed gratings by area-coded effective medium structures

Area-coded effective medium structures (ACES) are a recently presented novel type of diffractive structure. Because of their higher stability compared to 2D binary blazed gratings, they have the potential of a broader use in micro-optics applications. The first fabrication with electron-beam lithography validate the theoretical model of blazed ACES. The measured diffraction efficiencies are in very good agreement with the values obtained from rigorous electromagnetic analysis.     

Integrated optical Bragg filter with fast electrically controllable transfer function

We demonstrate an integrated optical Bragg filter based on lithium niobate, with a fast electrically controllable transfer function. The technique is based on phase-shift keying of the reflection Bragg grating in a waveguide. The transfer function can be tuned or favourably reconfigured by applying different combinations of electrical voltage to the electrode pairs on both sides of the waveguide. The demonstrated time of reconfiguration is less than 1 μs.     

Replicated data-matrix array generators

The fabrication and replication of binary spot array generators using 4 and 16 levels gratings is investigated. The elements are designed using iterative Fourier transform algorithm and fabricated by electron-beam lithography. Finally elements are copied by fabricating nickel shims and using hot embossing technique. In each step the optical signals are measured and signals are characterized using bit error rate as a measure of quality. The results show that although 16 level element gives theoretically superior performance, the bit error rate is much lower (∼0.2%) for replicated 4 level elements than for their 16 level counterparts (∼9%).     

Optical substrate thickness measurement system using hybrid fiber-freespace optics and selective wavelength interferometry

Proposed and demonstrated is a simple few components non-contact thickness measurement system for optical quality semi-transparent samples such as Silicon (Si) and 6H Silicon Carbide (SiC) optical chips used for designing sensors. The instrument exploits a hybrid fiber-freespace optical design that enables self-calibrating measurements via the use of confocal imaging via single mode fiber-optics and a self-imaging type optical fiber collimating lens. Data acquisition for fault-tolerant measurements is accomplished via a sufficiently broadband optical source and a tunable laser and relevant wavelength discriminating optics. Accurate sample thickness processing is achieved using the known material dispersion data for the sample and the few (e.g., 5) accurately measured optical power null wavelengths produced via the sample etalon effect. Thicknesses of 281.1 μm and 296 μm are measured for given SiC and Si optical chips, respectively.     

Confinement of infrared radiation to nanometer scales through metallic slit arrays

One-dimensional metallic slit array has been intensively studied in the spectral range from ultraviolet to near-infrared due to its enhanced transmission for transverse magnetic waves. However, the transmission enhancement is sensitive to the wavelength of incident radiation because of resonance characteristics. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate that confining mid-infrared radiation to nanometer scales with a large transmission enhancement can be achieved from an aluminum slit array in a wavelength-insensitive manner, for potential applications in localized heating and nanothermal patterning. The Poynting vector and energy density calculated from the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) are used to explain the strong localization of electromagnetic energy in the near-field regime. Furthermore, the localization of energy is also studied when a dielectric substrate is used to support the slit array in practical applications.     

Slow light phenomenon and extraordinary magnetooptical effects in periodic nanostructured media

Physical nature of the magnetooptical effects enhancement in periodic nanostructured media is investigated. The correlation between group velocity and the Faraday rotation peaks is found. The Faraday rotation gets its maximum values at vanishing group velocity. It is shown that in the vicinity of the photonic band gap the Faraday angle is inversely proportional to the group velocity and directly proportional to the magnetooptical parameter Q averaged along the period of the structure. At this the efficiency of light-magnetic-matter interaction increases significantly. Thus, the increase of the magnetooptical effects in magnetic periodic systems is related to the slow wave phenomenon.     

Phase diffractive optical gratings on glass substrates by laser ablation

A novel and rapid laser ablation method for the fabrication of phase diffractive gratings in low-cost glass substrates is presented. The structures are characterized in terms of their shape and physical parameters by confocal microscopy and SEM microscopy. The first-order diffraction efficiency at normal incidence under 632.8 nm wavelength is shown. The influence of the overlap factor on the period grating is studied.     

Dynamic gratings in KDP induced by piezoelectric vibrations at optical frequencies

Optical interference fringes were observed in the beam spot of the He-Ne laser transmitted through KDP. The interference fringes originate from the dynamic gratings induced by the electromagnetic field of the incident light. Diffraction fringes appear only in certain propagation directions of light through KDP. This observation is different from that monitored in α-quartz.     

Dual spectral filters with multi-layered grating waveguide structures

Promising configurations for dual spectral filters based upon grating-waveguide structures are presented. In these configurations, the parameters of the multimode waveguide and grating are carefully chosen to achieve dual resonances at two different pre-determined wavelengths. Specifically, the grating-waveguide structure resonates for each pre-selected wavelength with a different waveguide mode. Theoretical and experimental results reveal that the resonance wavelengths can be accurately selected and that the resonance spectral bandwidths can be less than 1 nm with high contrast ratios. Received: 14 December 2000 / Published online: 9 May 2001     

Double grating systems with one steel tape grating

Steel tape gratings are used in different metrology applications. As the period of these gratings was large (around 100μm,), its analytical study has been performed, up to date, using a geometrical approach. Nowadays, steel tape gratings can be manufactured with lower periods, around 20-40 μm, and diffractive effects must be taken into account. Also, due to the roughness of the surface, statistical techniques need to be considered to analyze their behavior. In this work, an analysis of the pseudo-imaging formation in a double grating system including one steel tape grating is performed. In particular Moiré and Lau configurations are analyzed. We have found that roughness significantly affects to Moiré configuration. However, its effect is negligible in Lau configuration. Generalized grating imaging configuration is also studied in depth. It is shown that roughness does not affect to the contrast of pseudoimages, but it modifies their depth of focus.     

Extraordinary Transmission through Metallic Grating with Subwavelength Slits for S-Polarization Illumination

Based on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis algorithm, we have systematically analysed the effect of the geometrical parameters of a dielectric film coated metallic grating with subwavelength slits on extraordinary optical transmission for s-polarization illumination. Results show that the dielectric film which sustains a waveguide electromagnetic mode on the top of the metallic lamellar grating can strongly enhance the transmittance, the positions of the transmission peaks are mainly determined by the period of the metallic grating, the thickness and refractive index of the dielectric film. This structure shows potential applications in excellent polarizers or polarization-isotropic devices at infrared spectral range by appropriately choosing the geometrical parameters.     

Two resonances effect for light transmission assisted with surface plasmon through perforated metal film

When light is incident on a nonplanar metal surface, an oscillating dipole is excited at the entrance openings. We show that the enhanced transmission assisted with surface plasmon (SP) through a perforated metal film results from two different SP resonances effects: (i) zero-order Fabry-Perot resonance effect where each air hole can be considered as a section of metallic waveguide, forming a low-quality-factor resonator, and many dipoles are arranged inside the nanoholes region; and (ii) structure-factor-induced charges self-tunnelling effect due to the well-recognized surface structure periodicity, where the positive or negative charges can respectively tunnel into the right surface through the metal walls. Furthermore, when light transmits through the double-layer perforated metal films, the different transport behaviors are also clearly shown, which convinces the existence of dual SP resonances effect.     

Group-theoretic approach to enhancing the Fourier modal method for crossed gratings with equilateral triangular symmetry

The Fourier modal method for crossed gratings is reformulated by use of a group-theoretic approach when the grating structures have the equilateral triangular symmetry. In the new formulation, a grating problem is first decomposed into four symmetrical basis problems whose field distributions are the symmetry modes (two are nondegenerate and the other two are doubly degenerate) of the grating. Then the symmetry relations of fields in the symmetry modes are used to reduce the number of unknowns in numerical computation. After the symmetrical basis problems are solved, their solutions are superposed to get the solution of the original problem. It is shown that when the grating is at some incident mountings, the memory occupation can be saved by 2/3 and the computation time can be reduced to 1/12 to 1/13.5 of the original one for different incident cases. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the new formulation and verify the improved computation efficiency.     

Plasmon mechanism of light transmission through a metal film or a plasma layer

It is shown that a smooth metal film (or a plasma layer) can be made transparent for an electromagnetic wave when two identical subwavelength diffraction gratings are placed on both sides of the film. The electromagnetic wave transmission through the metal film is caused by excitation of evanescent surface waves (plasmons) and their transformation into propagating waves at the gratings. A model which is developed analytically shows that the problem of the wave transmission is physically equivalent to the problem of excitation of two coupled resonators of evanescent waves which are formed at the two film surfaces.     

Diffractive performance of square Fresnel zone plates

We analyze the optical behavior of square Fresnel zones plates. A theoretical analysis and numerical simulations based on the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld approach have been developed analyzing properties such as the depth of focus and the intensity of the focus in terms of the number of zones. In addition, an experimental verification has been performed using a Spatial Light Modulator to implement the designed square Fresnel zones plates.