Interaction of terahertz radiation with surface and interface plasmon–phonons in AlGaAs/GaAs and GaN/Al2O3 heterostructures

Surface phonon and plasmon–phonon polariton characteristics of GaAs, Al _x Ga_1?x As/GaAs, and GaN/Al₂O₃ layered structures are investigated by means of terahertz radiation reflection spectroscopy. The strong resonant absorption peaks and selective emission of the THz radiation dependent upon the lattice composition and free electron density in these layered structures are experimentally observed and analyzed.     

Surface phonon–polaritons in rectangular quantum wires of polar ternary mixed crystals

In this paper, the dispersion relations of surface phonon–polaritons in freestanding rectangular quantum wire systems of polar ternary mixed crystals are derived. The numerical calculations for Al_xGa_1−xAs and Zn_xCd_1−xSe quantum wire systems are performed. The results reveal that the frequencies of surface phonon–polariton modes are sensitive to the geometric structures of the quantum wires, the wave-vectors in z-direction, and the compositions of the ternary mixed crystal materials. The effects of the “two-mode” and “one-mode” behaviors of the ternary mixed crystals on the surface phonon–polariton modes are also discussed.     

Coupling effect of surface plasmon polaritons in single-negative lamellar heterostructure

Propagation characteristics of surface plasmon polaritons(SPPs)in the lamellar heterostructure,which is actually a SPP waveguide array,constructed by two kinds of single negative(SNG)material layers stacked alternatively are investigated.Based on the finite element method(FEM),the negative-refraction(NR) property is demonstrated when the electromagnetic wave penetrates through free space into such SNG lamellar structure.A clear view of the underlying physics of NR is presented qualitatively that is mainly related to the coupled SPPs.The strong coupling effect leads to the novel SPP dispersion curves and then the anomalous propagation characteristics.     

Surface plasmon polaritons generated magneto–optical Kerr reversal in nanograting

Controlling the phase of light in magnetoplasmonic structures is receiving increasing attention because of its already shown capability in ultrasensitive and label-free molecular-level detection. Magneto–optical Kerr reversal has been achieved and well explained in nanodisks by using the phase of localized plasmons. In this paper, we report that the Kerr reversal can also be produced by surface plasmon polaritons independently. We experimentally confirm this in Co and Ag/Co/Ag metal nanogratings, and can give a qualitative explanation that it is the charge accumulation at the interface between the grating surface and air that acts as the electromagnetic restoring force to contribute necessary additional phase for Kerr reversal. Our finding can enrich the means of designing and fabricating magneto–optical-based biochemical sensors.     

Numerical investigation of the enhanced unidirectional surface plasmon polaritons generator~Numerical investigation of the enhanced unidirectional surface plasmon polaritons generator~Numerical investigation of the enhanced unidirectional surface plasmon polaritons generator

A unidirectional surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） generator with greatly enhanced generation efficiency is proposed. The SPPs generator consists of an asymmetric single nanoslit coated with a polyviny alcohol （PVA） film and a silver rectangle block. The generation efficiency of this SPPs generator is investigated using the finite difference time domain method. Due to the presence of the silver rectangle block, the SPPs generation efficiency of the asymmetric single nanoslit with PVA film can be greatly enhanced and the corresponding wavelength with the maximum enhancement factor can be tuned flexibly. The influence of the structural parameters on the generation efficiency is also investigated for the enhanced unidirectional SPPs generator.     

New bulk and surface phonon–plasmon modes in Raman spectra of porous n-InP

We report the Raman study of porous doped InP. The additional Raman bands were found in comparison with unporous doped InP. The effective medium theory is used to show that these bands may be assigned to a new coupled LO-phonon–plasmon mode and a contribution from surface polaritons.     

Identification of surface oxygen vacancy-related phonon–plasmon coupling in TiO_2 single crystal

Oxygen vacancies(OVs) play a critical role in the physical properties and applications of titanium dioxide nanostructures, which are widely used in electrochemistry and photo catalysis nowadays. In this work, OVs were artificially introduced in the surface of a pure TiO_2 single crystal by pulsed laser irradiation. Raman spectra showed that the intensity of E_g mode was enhanced. Theoretical calculations disclose that this was caused by the strong coupling effect between the phonon vibration and plasmon induced by the OVs-related surface deformation, and good agreement was achieved between the experiments and theory.     

Surface plasmon polaritons maskless lithography of metal–dielectric multilayers with tunable resolution

We report the design of surface plasmon polaritons maskless lithography based on metal–dielectric multilayers. The interference pattern is generated by the interference of the counter-propagating bulk plasmon polariton (BPP) modes, which are excited by the attenuated total reflection method. The resolution of the interference fringes can be tuned with the incident angles, because different BPP modes are excited in the metal–dielectric multilayers. The feature size as small as 34 nm (about λ/13) can be realized under the 436 nm TM-polarized illumination, which is suitable for deep-subwavelength lithography. The exposure depth decreases with increasing the resonant angle. Electromagnetic simulations by a finite difference time-domain method on the two-dimensional and three-dimensional examples have been performed to validate the designs.     

Does the leakage radiation profile mirror the intensity profile of surface plasmon polaritons?: comment

We comment on a recent paper [Opt. Lett.35, 1944 (2010)].     

Selective enhancement of the hole photocurrent by surface plasmon–polaritons in layers of Ge/Si quantum dots

It is found that the integration of Ge/Si heterostructures containing layers of Ge quantum dots with twodimensional regular lattices of subwave holes in a gold film on the surface of a semiconductor leads to the multiple (to 20 times) enhancement of the hole photocurrent in narrow wavelength regions of the mid-infrared range. The results are explained by the light wave excitation of the surface plasmon–polaritons at the metal–semiconductor interface effectively interacting with intraband transitions of holes in quantum dots.     

Fano-like electron–phonon interference in δ-doping GaAs superlattices

The interaction between electron excitations and LO phonons is studied by Raman scattering inδ-doping GaAs superlattices. The Raman spectra measured close to the E₀ +  Δ₀resonance of GaAs present Fano-like coupling of the LO phonons with the quasicontinuum single-particle electron excitations. Due to the self-consistent origin of the electron-energy spectrum in δ-doping superlattices the resonance of the Fano interference was found to be strongly dependent on the electron density as well as the excitation energy.     

Thermally stimulated transformation of the EPR spectra in γ-irradiated bone tissue

γ-irradiated bone tissue annealed at different temperatures is studied by EPR. In powder samples the annealing-induced changes of the EPR spectra are mainly determined by sharp growth of a signal caused by the products of thermal decay of an organic component in the tissue. This signal considerably complicates the analysis of the EPR spectrum shape for the annealed samples. On the other hand, in the spectra of the plates of bone tissue a change in the lineshape of the EPR signal from CO₂⁻ radicals after annealing is more pronounced than in powder, and it is attributed to the change in the contributions from axial and orthorhombic CO₂⁻ radicals. The analysis of different radicals concentrations vs. annealing temperature revealed above 210 °C the temperature-induced transformation of orthorhombic CO₂⁻ radicals into axial ones in bone tissue which (together with organic component) is responsible for the changes of EPR lineshape at annealing.     

Thermally stimulated generation–recombination processes in zinc oxide single crystals and nanocrystals

We present an analysis of the theory of thermally stimulated generation×recombination processes occurring in semiconductors with participation of trapping and recombination centers, based on which we develop algorithms for a program for computer processing of experimental data and simulation of the thermally stimulated conductivity and thermally stimulated luminescence spectra. We determine the characteristic parameters of the trapping centers. We compare the results of computer simulation with experimentally observed thermally stimulated luminescence spectra of ZnO single crystals and nanocrystals.     

Giant transmission Goos–Hnchen shift in surface plasmon polaritons excitation and its physical origin

Excitation of surface plasmon polaritons(SPPs) propagating at the interface between a dielectric medium and a silver thin film by a focused Gaussian beam in a classical Kretschmann prism setup is studied theoretically. We find that the center of the transmitted Gaussian evanescent wave has a giant lateral shift relative to the incident Gaussian beam center for a wide range of incident angle and Gaussian beam wavelength to excite SPPs, which can be more than two orders of magnitude larger than the silver film thickness. The phenomenon is closely related with the conventional Goos–Hnchen effect for total internal reflection of light beam, and it is called the transmission Goos–Hnchen shift. We find that this lateral shift depends heavily on the excitation wavelength, incident angle, and the silver layer thickness. Finite-difference time-domain simulations show that this transmission Goos–Hnchen shift is induced by a unique dynamical process of excitation, transport, and leakage of SPPs.     

Optical phonon self-energies in titanium phases: effects of electron–phonon interaction

Temperature-dependent Raman investigations of titanium in the α and pressure-quenched ω-phase have been carried out. The results obtained suggest the possible coexistence of both phases at ambient pressure and low temperatures. Comparison of the low-temperature E_2g phonon self-energies in both phases with simulations based on the calculated electronic structures for α- and ω-Ti implies significant contributions from non-adiabatic electron–phonon interactions.     

Amplification and generation of surface plasmon polaritons in a dielectric−HTS film−dielectric structure

Propagation of surface polaritons in the dielectric?HTS?dielectric structure is investigated in the temperature region of T <T _c/2, where the structure can be considered nonabsorbing. It is shown that in the region where the polariton wave is appreciably slowed down it can effectively interact with a flux of charged particles and be amplified due to the energy transfer from the drift current wave. It is also shown that a periodic substrate can cause generation of the surface polariton wave in the structure.     

α-quartz as a substrate in thermal phonon radiation

Using the mechanical strong anisotropic-quartz, measurements of radiation temperature as a function of phonon radiation power were performed for gold and copper radiators evaporated on theX- orZ-crystal face, respectively. The comparison with theoretical model calculations of phonon transmission across the interface yields agreement with the isotropic/anisotropic acoustic mismatch model. A strong increase in radiation temperature in comparison to linear emission models is observed at temperatures above about 40 K. We suppose that this effect is due to phonon back-scattering which leads to a back-heating of the metal film.Supported by Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie     

Experimental evaluation of phonon–phason coupling in icosahedral quasicrystals

By measuring phonon strain introduced in crystal approximants, the sign and magnitude of the phonon–phason coupling constant have been evaluated for icosahedral quasicrystals of Mg–Ga–Al–Zn and Al–Cu–Fe systems. The evaluated coupling constants are approximately ?0.04μ and 0.004μ (μ?=?shear modulus) for the former and the latter, respectively. They are in good agreement with the results of a previously reported theoretical calculation. Possible effects of phonon–phason coupling on the onset of phasonic elastic instability in icosahedral quasicrystals are discussed.