Fano-like Line Shape Research Articles

Experimental observation of Fano-like resonance in a whispering-gallery-mode microresonator in aqueous environment

We report on the transmission spectra of a sausage-like microresonator (SLM) in aqueous environment, where a fiber taper is used as a light coupler. The transmission spectra show an interesting dependence on the coupling position between the SLM and the fiber taper. When the SLM is moved along the fiber taper, the line shape can evolve periodically among symmetric dips, asymmetric Fano-like resonance line shapes, and symmetric peaks. A coupled-mode theory with feedback is developed to explain the observation. The observation of Fano-like resonance in aqueous environment holds great potential in biochemical sensing.

Lattice modes and plasmonic linewidth engineering in gold and aluminum nanoparticle arrays

Metallic nanoparticles arranged in arrays have been shown to support both localized surface plasmons (LSPs) and diffractive grating behavior, related to the inter-particle period. By selecting both the period and particle size, it is possible to generate lattice modes that are caused by interference of the LSP and the grating Rayleigh anomaly. These hybrid modes show a Fano-like lineshape with reduced linewidth relative to the LSP mode. In this paper, we study the lattice modes supported by gold and aluminum nanoparticle arrays in the visible and UV, both experimentally and theoretically. The measured and simulated dispersion curves allow us to comprehensively analyze the details of the LSP coupling in the array. We show that when the spectral position of the Rayleigh anomaly, dependent on the period of the array, is slightly blue-shifted with respect to the LSP resonance, the quality factor of the lattice mode is significantly increased. We also provide evidence that the formation of the lattice modes critically depends on the incident light polarization, with maximum coupling efficiency between LSPs and the in-plane scattered light when the polarization direction is perpendicular to the propagation direction of the grazing wave. The results obtained provide design rules for high quality factor resonances throughout the visible and ultraviolet spectral ranges.

Scattering of nanowire surface plasmons coupled to quantum dots with azimuthal angle difference.

Coherent scatterings of surface plasmons coupled to quantun dots have attracted great attention in plasmonics. Recently, an experiment has shown that the quantum dots located nearby a nanowire can be separated not only in distance, but also an angle ϕ along the cylindrical direction. Here, by using the real-space Hamiltonian and the transfer matrix method, we analytically obtain the transmission/reflection spectra of nanowire surface plasmons coupled to quantum dots with an azimuthal angle difference. We find that the scattering spectra can show completely different features due to different positions and azimuthal angles of the quantum dots. When additionally coupling a cavity to the dots, we obtain the Fano-like line shape in the transmission and reflection spectra due to the interference between the localized and delocalized modes.

Tunable Fano-like resonance enabled by coupling a microsphere with a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

We demonstrate a simple scheme to achieve Fano-like resonance by coupling a microsphere resonator with a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (FMZI), which includes a tapered microfiber in one pathway to evanescently couple with the microsphere. In this system, Fano-like asymmetric lineshapes could be converted into different types by introducing an extra phase shift in the FMZI. In addition, the sharpness of the Fano-like lineshapes could be controlled by changing the coupling strength between the microsphere and the microfiber. This Fano-like resonance with advantages of fiber integration, tunable lineshape, and ease of operation may have great potential in optical signal processing and sensing.

Tailoring Plasmon Lifetime in Suspended Nanoantenna Arrays for High-Performance Plasmon Sensing

We demonstrate significantly longer plasmon lifetime and stronger electric field enhancement by lifting the nanoantenna arrays above the substrate by dielectric nanopillars. The role of the pillar is to offer a more homogeneous dielectric background allowing stronger diffraction coupling among plasmonic nanoantennas leading to a Fanolike asymmetric lineshape. It is found that the electric fields around the nanoantennas can be greatly enhanced when the Fanolike resonance is excited, and a 4.2 times enhancement is achieved compared with the pure resonance in individual nanoantennas. Furthermore, only a collective surface mode with its electric fields of the same direction as the induced electric moment in the nanoantennas could mediate the excitation of such a Fanolike resonance. More importantly, the sensitivity and the figure of merit (FOM) of this plasmonic structure can reach as high as 900 nm/RIU and 53, respectively. Our study offers a new, simple, and efficient way to design the plasmonic systems with desired electric field enhancement and spectral lineshape for different applications.

Multiple out-of-plane plasmonic resonances in thick metallic rod with a cavity

We propose a nanostructure composed of a thick metallic rod with a cavity, in which multiple out-of-plane plasmonic resonances can be excited. When the cavity is laterally shifted to form an asymmetric nanostructure, the coupling between the plasmonic resonances excited in an individual element of the rod produces high-order hybridized out-of-plane modes with narrow linewidth. A further analysis reveals that the hybridized modes have Fano-like spectral line-shapes, which can be accurately described by a coupled oscillator model.

Environment-modulated Kondo phenomena in FePc/Au(111) adsorption systems

Recent scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on electron transport through iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) molecules adsorbed on the Au(111) surface have revealed that the measured Kondo conductance signature depends strongly on the specific adsorption site. To understand the physical origin of experimental observations, particularly the variation of Kondo features with the molecular adsorption site, we employ a combined density functional theory (DFT) and hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) approach to investigate the electronic structure and Kondo correlation in FePc/Au(111) composite systems. The calculation results indicate that, for the on-top adsorption configuration, the two degenerate spin-unpaired ${d}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}$ orbitals on the Fe center are coupled indirectly through substrate band states, leading to the Fano-like antiresonance line shape in the $dI/dV$ spectra, while for the bridge adsorption configuration, the environment-induced couplings are largely suppressed because of the two different spin-unpaired $d$ orbitals. Therefore, our work suggests that the environment-induced coupling as an essential physical factor could greatly influence the Fano-Kondo features in magnetic molecule/metal composites, and the crucial role of local orbital degeneracy and symmetry is discovered. These findings provide important insights into the electron correlation effects in complex solid-state systems. The usefulness and practicality of the combined DFT+HEOM method is also highlighted.

PT-symmetry-induced evolution of sharp asymmetric line shapes and high-sensitivity refractive index sensors in a three-cavity array

It is important to control and tune the Fano-resonance spectra to achieve a large slope with, in addition, a relatively high extinction ratio for low-power optical switching and high-sensitivity sensing. Here, we explore the evolution of sharp asymmetric Fano-like line shapes in a three-cavity array with local parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry. In this three-cavity configuration, a single cavity is coupled to a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric combination of two cavities via a common waveguide. The influences of local $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry on the asymmetric Fano-like line shapes are investigated by monitoring the output transmission spectra at various system parameters. It is found that both the slope and the extinction ratio within the sharp asymmetric line shapes can be significantly enhanced by introducing the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric unit, compared with the configuration of two indirectly coupled cavities. Subsequently we discuss the application of such a $\mathcal{PT}$-assisted configuration as a family of high-sensitivity refractive index sensors by numerical analysis. For practical parameters based on microring resonators, the best sensitivity of refractive index sensors is more than five orders of magnitude larger than two indirectly coupled lossy cavities. The proposed scheme can be implemented in current state-of-the-art experiments. This investigation can help us to understand the interplay between the Fano resonance and $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry.

Observation and analysis of Fano-like lineshapes in the Raman spectra of molecules adsorbed at metal interfaces

Surface enhanced Raman spectra from molecules (bipyridyl ethylene) adsorbed on gold dumbells are observed to become increasingly asymmetric (Fano-like) at higher incident light intensity. The electronic temperature (inferred from the anti-Stokes (AS) electronic Raman signal increases at the same time while no vibrational AS scattering is seen. These observations are analyzed by assuming that the molecule-metal coupling contains an intensity dependent contribution (resulting from light-induced charge transfer transitions as well as renormalization of the molecule metal tunneling barrier). We find that interference between vibrational and electronic inelastic scattering routes is possible in the presence of strong enough electron-vibrational coupling and can in principle lead to the observed Fano-like feature in the Raman scattering profile. However the best fit to the observed results, including the dependence on incident light intensity and the associated thermal response is obtained from a model that disregards this coupling and accounts for the structure of the continuous electronic component of the Raman scattering signal. The temperatures inferred from the Raman signal are argued to be only of qualitative value.

Near-Field Fano-Imaging of TE and TM Modes in Silicon Microrings

A deep-subwavelength imaging of the optical-guided modes localized in silicon microring resonators, obtained with a polarization-sensitive Fano-imaging technique, is demonstrated. We merge together near-field scanning optical microscopy and resonant forward scattering spectroscopy, leading to near-field hyperspectral imaging without the need of embedded light emitters or evanescent light coupling into the microring. The combined analysis of the observed Fano-like spectral line shapes and of the near-field intensity spatial distributions, supported by accurate numerical calculations, gives a clear discrimination between the TE and the TM modes.

Fano-like resonances sustained by Si doped InAsSb plasmonic resonators integrated in GaSb matrix.

By using metal-free plasmonics, we report on the excitation of Fano-like resonances in the mid-infrared where the Fano asymmetric parameter, q, varies when the dielectric environment of the plasmonic resonator changes. We use silicon doped InAsSb alloy deposited by molecular beam epitaxy on GaSb substrate to realize the plasmonic resonators exclusively based on semiconductors. We first demonstrate the possibility to realize high quality samples of embedded InAsSb plasmonic resonators into GaSb host using regrowth technique. The high crystalline quality of the deposited structure is confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) observation. Second, we report Fano-like resonances associated to localized surface plasmons in both cases: uncovered and covered plasmonic resonators, demonstrating a strong line shape modification. The optical properties of the embedded structures correspond to those modeled by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and by a model based on Fano-like line shape. Our results show that all-semiconductor plasmonics gives the opportunity to build new plasmonic structures with embedded resonators of highly doped semiconductor in a matrix of un-doped semiconductor for mid-IR applications.

Tailoring optical response of a hybrid comprising a quantum dimer emitter strongly coupled to a metallic nanoparticle

We study theoretically the optical response of a nanohybrid comprising a symmetric quantum dimer emitter coupled to a metal nanoparticle (MNP). The interactions between the exitonic transitions in the dimer and the plasmons in the MNP lead to interesting effects in the composite's input-output characteristics for the light intensity and the absorption spectrum, which we study in the linear and nonlinear regimes. We find that the exciton-plasmon hybridization leads to optical bistability and hysteresis for the one-exciton transition and enhancement of excitation for the two-exciton transition. The latter leads to a significant decrease in the field strength needed to saturate the system. In the linear regime, the absorption spectrum has a dispersive (Fano-like) line shape. The spectral position and shape of this spectrum depend on the detuning of the dimer's one-exciton resonance relative to the plasmon resonance and the ratio of the exciton-plasmon coupling constant to the exciton dephasing rate. When the applied field intensity to the nonlinear regime is increased, the Fano-like singularities in the absorption spectra are smeared and they disappear due to saturation of the dimer, which leads to the MNP dominating the spectrum. The above effects, for which we provide physical explanations, allow one to tailor the Fano-like shape of the absorption spectrum, by changing either the detuning or the input power.

Spectroscopic characterization of nitrogen- and boron-doped graphene layers

Nitrogen- and boron-doped graphene layers were grown on copper substrates by alcoholic chemical vapor deposition and characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrical transport measurements. The growth of high-quality monolayer graphene was confirmed by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The G and 2D peaks showed systematic frequency shift and broadening with the impurity concentration. The G peaks showed Fano-like asymmetric line shapes. These behaviors suggested the generation of free carriers by doping. XPS and electrical transport measurements also supported the systematic incorporation of impurities in graphene layers.

The Fano-like lineshape without interference in graphene symmetry-breaking structures

We demonstrate that the concepts in metal plasmonics cannot be totally used indiscriminately in graphene plasmonics. A typical Fano resonance for a metallic symmetry-breaking structure is simulated for graphene. Although a Fano-like extinction spectrum emerges, our analysis proves that the asymmetry is due to the intensity superposition of three plasmon modes instead of interference. The difference between graphene and metal plasmons comes from different contributions to the extinction, where the former is absorption instead of scattering. Furthermore, the asymmetric lineshape can be effectively tuned by changing not only the carrier mobility and Fermi energy of graphene, but also the geometry of the disk.

Fano-like line shape of spontaneous emission spectrum in a weakly driven two-level atom

It has been shown that the Fano-like profile of spontaneous emission spectrum can be obtained in a weakly driven two-level atom under certain conditions. Coherent control of the spectral ‘hole’ or dark line generated in the asymmetric line shape can also be achieved by varying those conditions.

All-optical switching based on a tunable Fano-like resonance in nonlinear ferroelectric photonic crystals

A low-power all-optical switching is presented based on the all-optical tunable Fano-like resonance in a two-dimensional nonlinear ferroelectric photonic crystal made of polycrystalline lithium niobate. An asymmetric Fano-like line shape is achieved in the transmission spectrum by using two cascaded and uncoupled photonic crystal microcavities. The physical mechanism underlying the all-optical switching is attributed to the dynamic shift of the Fano-like resonance peak caused by variations in the dispersion relations of the photonic crystal structure induced by pump light. A large switching efficiency of 61% is reached under excitation of a weak pump light with an intensity as low as 1 MW cm−2.

Tailoring the coupling between localized and propagating surface plasmons: realizing Fano-like interference and high-performance sensor

Surface plasmon modes originated from various metallic nanostructures possess unique features of strong nanoscale light confinement and enhancement with tunable energy, which make them attractive and promising for a variety of applications such as sensing, solar cell, and lasing. Here, we have investigated the interaction between localized and propagating surface plasmons in a structure consisting of a gold nanobar array and a thick gold film, separated by a silica dielectric spacer layer. It is found that the reflection spectrum of the designed plasmonic structure can be readily tailored by changing the gold nanobar size, array period and the spacer layer thickness. Moreover, the strong coupling between the localized and propagating modes can result in an anticrossing behavior and even induce a Fano-like asymmetric lineshape. Importantly, the sensitivity and the figure of merit (FoM) of this plasmonic system can reach as high as 936 nm/RIU and 112, respectively. Our study offers a new, simple, efficient and controllable way to design the plasmonic systems with desired modes coupling and spectral lineshapes for different applications.

Fano Resonant Ring/Disk Plasmonic Nanocavities on Conducting Substrates for Advanced Biosensing

By introducing a conducting metal layer underneath a Fano resonant asymmetric ring/disk plasmonic nanocavity system, we demonstrate that electromagnetic fields can be strongly enhanced. These large electromagnetic fields extending deep into the medium are highly accessible and increase the interaction volume of analytes and optical fields. As a result, we demonstrate high refractive index sensitivities as large as 648 nm/RIU. By exciting Fano resonances with much sharper spectral features, as narrow as 9 nm, we experimentally show high figure of merits as large as 72 and reliable detection of protein mono- and bilayers. Furthermore, the conducting substrate enables strong interaction between fundamental and higher order modes of the system by minor structural asymmetries. This is very advantageous for experimental realization of systems supporting resonances with well-defined Fano-like line shape without requiring challenging fabrication resolution. Exploiting conducting metallic substrates and the associated propagating surface plasmons at their interface could be extended to other Fano resonant cavity geometries for improved biosensing performance.

Fano-Like Resonances Arising from Long-Lived Molecule-Plasmon Interactions in Colloidal Nanoantennas

We examine ultrafast dynamics in a coupled molecule-plasmon system. Using a new ultrafast Raman technique called surface enhanced-femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (SE-FSRS), we prove that plasmonic nanoparticles and adsorbed molecules are coupled by the appearance of Fano-like lineshapes, which arise from the interaction of narrowband vibrational coherences and the broadband plasmon resonance. We probe the effect of plasmon energy on the vibrational lineshapes and observe changes in the phase of the line shape dispersion. Finally, we examine the effect of plasmon-molecule coupling on the molecular vibrational coherence lifetime. Surprisingly, coupling of the molecular vibration to the plasmon does not significantly shorten the vibrational coherence dephasing time. Better understanding of the ultrafast dynamics of excited vibrational states and vibrational coherences in coupled molecular-plasmonic systems should assist in developing a mechanism-based view of plasmonically enhanced photovoltaic and photocatalytic systems.

Fano effect due to ponderomotive coupling in intersubband response of semiconductor quantum wells

Using terahertz-time-domain spectroscopy, it has been demonstrated before that an intersubband transition in photoexcited undoped quantum wells reveals a Fano-like line shape in transmission spectra due to the phase-sensitive coupling of ponderomotive and intersubband currents [D. Golde et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 127403 (2009)]. In the present experimental study on GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells we attempt to delineate the observability conditions of this phenomenon. We find that intensity-based Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy cannot uncover these ponderomotive effects. However, for time-domain spectroscopy they are shown not to be limited to the case of optically excited electrons, but can be seen in doped samples as well.