Efficient All-Optical Molecule-Plasmon Modulation Based on T-shape Single Slit

Abstract

Efficient all-optical molecule-plasmon modulation is experimentally demonstrated by employing a compact T-shape single slit on a metal film coated with an azopolymer film, in which the azobenzene molecules can be reoriented by a pump beam. In the T-shape single slit, the transmission spectra exhibit periodic behaviors and are quite sensitive to variations of the refractive index of the azopolymer in the groove. Under a pump beam, the azobenzene molecules are reoriented, so the SPPs in the groove feel a refractive index quite different from that of the originally isotropic azopolymer with randomly orientations. This leads to a high modulation depth of about 53 % (3.3 dB) and a phase variation of >π experimentally.