High-Sensitivity Sensor Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance Enhanced Lateral Optical Beam Displacements

We present a new optical sensor based on surface plasmon resonance （SPIt） enhanced lateral optical beam displacements. Compared with the traditional SPIt methods, the new method provides higher sensitivity to the sensor system. Theoretical simulations show that the refractive index （RI） detection sensitivity of the SPR sensor based on the displacement measurement has a strong dependence on the thickness of the metal film. When the optimal thickness of the metal film is selected, the RI resolutlon of the SPIt sensor is predicted to be 2.2 × 10^-7 refractive index units （RIU）. Furthermore, it is found that the incidence angle can be used as a parameter to adjust the operating range of the sensor to different refractive index ranges.     

Ablation mechanism study on metallic materials with a 10 ps laser under high fluence

Single shot ablation of metallic materials of aluminium, titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) and gold has been studied with 10 picoseconds (ps) laser pulses experimentally and theoretically. The ablation rate variation at high fluence was explained by a simplified predictive model based on critical-point phase separation (CPPS) theory. A comparison between experimental and numerical results inferred that CPPS may well be the dominant ablation mechanism for high fluence laser ablation at 10 ps laser duration.     

Purely quadratic dispersion of surface plasmon in Ag/Ni(111): the influence of electron confinement

Surface plasmon dispersion in nanoscale thin Ag films deposited onto the Ni(111) surface was investigated by angle‐resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. We found that the dispersion curve contains only the quadratic term. The vanishing of the linear term was ascribed to the presence in the film of Ag 5sp‐related quantum well states. Screening effects enhanced by electron confinement in Ag quantum well states push the position of the centroid of the induced charge of the surface plasmon less inside the interface compared to other Ag systems, rendering null the linear coefficient of the dispersion curve. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Damping of the surface plasmon in clean and K-modified Ag thin films

The damping processes of electronic collective excitations of Ag/Ni(1 1 1) were studied by high-resolution electron energy spectroscopy. The FMHM of the Ag surface plasmon was reported as a function of Ag thickness, primary electron beam energy, Ag surface plasmon energy, and parallel momentum transfer. The broadening of the Ag surface plasmon was found to be related to 5sp–5sp transitions, for which a critical wave vector of 0.2 Å⁻¹ exists. Moreover, we provide a direct evidence of the occurrence of chemical interface damping in thin films, upon doping the Ag/Ni(1 1 1) system with K adatoms. The enhanced plasmon broadening in K/Ag/Ni(1 1 1) was ascribed to the existence of additional electron–hole decay channels at the K/Ag interface.     

Desorption of metal atoms with laser light of different polarization

Laser-induced desorption of metal atoms from the surface of small metal particles has been investigated as a function of the shape of the particles and the polarization of the incident laser light. The particles were supported on LiF, quartz or sapphire substrates. In a first set of experiments, the shape of the particles was determined by recording optical transmission spectra with s- and p-polarized light incident under an angle of typically 40° with respect to the surface normal. The metal particles turn out to be oblate, the ratio of the axes perpendicular and parallel to the substrate surface being on the order of 0.5. This ratio decreases with increasing particle size. Also, the particles change shape if the temperature is raised. In further experiments, s- and p-polarized light has been used to stimulate desorption of atoms via surface plasmon excitation. It is found that the desorption rate markedly depends on the polarization of the light. This is explained by excitation of the collective electron oscillation along different axes of the non-spherical particles.     

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.     

Magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole responses of elliptic quantum dots in magnetic fields

The magnetic dipole (M1) and electric quadupole (E2) responses of two-dimensional quantum dots with an elliptic shape are theoretically investigated as a function of the dot deformation and applied static magnetic field. Neglecting the electron-electron interaction we obtain analytical results which indicate the existence of four characteristic modes, with different B-dispersion of their energies and associated strengths. Interaction effects are numerically studied within the time-dependent local-spin-density and Hartree approximations, assessing the validity of the non-interacting picture. Received 29 November 2001 Published online 6 June 2002     

Gain-assisted propagation of electromagnetic energy in subwavelength surface plasmon polariton gap waveguides

The propagation of electromagnetic energy via coupled surface plasmon polariton modes in a metal-insulator-metal heterostructure is analyzed analytically for a core material exhibiting optical gain. It is shown that a sufficiently large gain can completely compensate for the absorption losses due to energy dissipation in the metallic boundaries, enabling long-range transport with a confinement below the diffraction limit for on-chip switching and sensing applications. For a free-space wavelength of 1500 nm, lossless propagation in a gold-semiconductor-gold waveguide with a core size of 50 nm is predicted for a gain coefficient γ = 4830 cm⁻¹, comparable to that of semiconductor gain media. The gain requirements decrease with the use of low-index nanocrystal-doped glasses or polymers as core materials.     

Local field enhancements on gold and silver nanostructures for aperture near field spectroscopy

Optical properties of silver and gold semi-continuous films near the percolation threshold are investigated by scanning near field optical microscopy (SNOM) operating in the collection/transmission mode. The electromagnetic enhanced fields, due to plasmon-polariton localizations, are observed and the intensity distribution is shown to present high intensity variations that increase with the wavelength. The local fields are also demonstrated to be polarization dependent. The intensity distribution is investigated as function of the incident wavelength both for gold and silver films. The calculated probability distribution function (PDF) exhibits an exponential decay for large enhancement factors and is proved to be wavelength dependent.     

Charge density wave transport in submicron antidot arrays in NbSe3

We demonstrate for the first time that a periodic array of submicrometer holes (antidots) can be patterned into thin single NbSe₃ crystals. We report on the study of Charge Density Wave (CDW) transport of the network of mesoscopic units between antidots. Size of the elementary unit can be as small as 0.5 μm along the chain axis and in cross-section. We observe size effects for Ohmic residual resistance and in CDW transport current-voltage characteristics in submicronic networks. Received: 25 November 1997 / Received in final form: 30 March 1998 / Accepted: 6 April 1998