Nonlinear photonics with metallic nanostructures on top of dielectrics and waveguides

We review recent experimental and theoretical studies of the ultrafast and nonlinear optical response of metallic nanostructures on top of dielectric substrates and slab waveguides where plasmon hybridization is a key ingredient. In a first three-pulse all-optical control experiment a hybrid plasmonic mode is turned on or off only a few tens of femtoseconds after its excitation. A second experiment concentrates on the origin of the nonlinear response in a metallo-dielectric photonic crystal structure. We show that the shape of the nonlinear optical spectra provides unambiguous information about the nonlinear optical contribution of the metallic as well as the dielectric part of the structure. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of slow-light on the nonlinear response. All experimental results agree perfectly with numerical scattering matrix calculations as well as simulations based on a classical harmonic oscillator model.