High Wavevector Research Articles

Organization of hyaluronic acid molecules in solutions

The organization of hyaluronic acid (HA) solutions was investigated by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). It was demonstrated that HA formed clusters greater than several hundred nanometers. The SANS response revealed a weak correlation peak, corresponding to ordering over a distance scale of about 80 nm. At higher wave vectors, the SANS response indicated the presence of rod-like structures. Addition of calcium ions only weakly affects the structure of the HA solution, but significantly reduces its osmotic pressure. The osmotic component of the SANS response is in good agreement with the intensity obtained from direct osmotic pressure measurements. The results are consistent with the rigid structure of the HA molecule.Graphical abstract

Surface recoil force on dielectric nanoparticle enhancement via graphene acoustic surface plasmon excitation: non-local effect consideration.

Controlling optomechanical interactions at sub-wavelength levels is of great importance in academic science and nanoparticle manipulation technologies. This Letter focuses on the improvement of the recoil force on nanoparticles placed close to a graphene-dielectric-metal structure. The momentum conservation involving the non-symmetric excitation of acoustic surface plasmons (ASPs), via near-field circularly polarized dipolar scattering, implies the occurrence of a huge momentum kick on the nanoparticle. Owing to the high wave vector values entailed in the near-field scattering process, it has been necessary to consider the non-locality of the graphene electrical conductivity to explore the influence of the scattering loss on this large wave vector region, which is neglected by the semiclassical model. Surprisingly, the contribution of ASPs to the recoil force is negligibly modified when the non-local effects are incorporated through the graphene conductivity. On the contrary, our results show that the contribution of the non-local scattering loss to this force becomes dominant when the particle is placed very close to the graphene sheet and that it is mostly independent of the dielectric thickness layer. Our work can be helpful for designing new and better performing large plasmon momentum optomechanical structures using scattering highly dependent on the polarization for moving dielectric nanoparticles.

RF dispersion relations in FRC geometries and HHFW regime

Field reversed configurations (FRC) are characterized by a magnetic field topology, which exhibits the inversion of the external magnetic field through plasma sustained current and the subsequent presence of a null field surface. A monotonical radial decrease in the longitudinal magnetic field leads to the potential presence of harmonics of the ion cyclotron frequency of any order in the region included between the outer wall and the null field surface. What is the effective hot-plasma dispersion relation obtained through the convolution of a large ensemble of high harmonics fast waves (HHFW) confined in a finite radial region represents an open question that we attempt to address here. In particular, we discuss a combination of analytical modeling and numerical treatment, which allows us to retrieve the resulting high harmonic fast wave complex wavevector for any radial location of any FRC radial profile. Moreover, we show how the obtained hot-plasma HHFW wavevector relates to the cold-plasma solution, and how it depends on the plasma parameters.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Diffusion Behavior in Liquid Sn and Pb

This study aimed to clarify the effect of a unique structure with a “shoulder,” which represents a hump on the high wave vector side of the first peak of static structure factor, in liquid Sn (liq-Sn) on the self-diffusion behavior through molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The MD simulations of liq-Sn at 573 K and liquid Pb (liq-Pb) at 773 K were performed for comparison. The former and latter were selected as element with and without shoulder structure and reliable self-diffusion coefficients in liquid have been measured in both elements. The calculated self-diffusion coefficients of liq-Sn and liq-Pb were reproduced as the same order of magnitude with the referred reliable data of diffusion coefficients, which were obtained by experiments on the ground. The microscopic diffusion behavior of liq-Sn is unlike that of the hard-sphere model because the atoms become sluggish in the range that corresponds to the shoulder appearing in the pair distribution function of liq-Sn as well as in the structure factor of liq-Sn based on the local atomic configurations and time-series analyses of individual atoms. Therefore, the velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) converges to zero more rapidly than that of liq-Pb, and it is reproduced by the hard-sphere model. However, the macroscopic diffusion behavior of liq-Sn expressed by the self-diffusion coefficient is the same as that of the hard-sphere model with the non-correlation of the VACF in the long time.

600-GHz Fourier imaging based on heterodyne detection at the 2nd sub-harmonic.

Fourier imaging is an indirect imaging method which records the diffraction pattern of the object scene coherently in the focal plane of the imaging system and reconstructs the image using computational resources. The spatial resolution, which can be reached, depends on one hand on the wavelength of the radiation, but also on the capability to measure - in the focal plane - Fourier components with high spatial wave-vectors. This leads to a conflicting situation at THz frequencies, because choosing a shorter wavelength for better resolution usually comes at the cost of less radiation power, concomitant with a loss of dynamic range, which limits the detection of higher Fourier components. Here, aiming at maintaining a high dynamic range and limiting the system costs, we adopt heterodyne detection at the 2nd sub-harmonic, working with continuous-wave (CW) radiation for object illumination at 600 GHz and local-oscillator (LO) radiation at 300 GHz. The detector is a single-pixel broad-band Si CMOS TeraFET equipped with substrate lenses on both the front- and backside for separate in-coupling of the waves. The entire scene is illuminated by the object wave, and the Fourier spectrum is recorded by raster scanning of the single-detector unit through the focal plane. With only 56 µW of power of the 600-GHz radiation, a dynamic range of 60 dB is reached, sufficient to detect the entire accessible Fourier space spectrum in the test measurements. We present a detailed comparison between plane-to-plane imaging and Fourier imaging, and show that, with both, a lateral spatial resolution of better than 0.5 mm, at the diffraction limit, is reached.

Efficient strain-modified improved nonparabolic-band energy dispersion model that considers the effect of conduction band nonparabolicity in mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers.

Intersubband polar-optical-phonon (POP) scattering plays an important role in determining the population inversion and optical gain of mid-infrared (mid-IR) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). In particular, the nonparabolicity of the conduction band (CB) significantly affects the energy dispersion relation and intersubband POP scattering time. However, the currently used parabolic-band (PB) and nonparabolic-band (NPB) energy dispersion models are not appropriate for mid-IR QCLs because they are unsuitable for high electron wave vectors and do not consider the effect of applied strain on the energy dispersion relation of the CB. The eight-band k·p method can provide a relatively accurate nonparabolic energy dispersion relation for high electron wave vectors but has the disadvantages of high computational complexity and spurious solutions to be discarded. Consequently, we propose a strain-modified improved nonparabolic-band (INPB) energy dispersion model that has no spurious solution and acceptable accuracy, compared to the eight-band k·p method. To demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of our proposed INPB model compared with those of the PB, NPB, and eight-band k·p models, we calculate the energy dispersion relations and intersubband POP scattering times in a strain-compensated QCL with a lasing wavelength of 3.58 µm. Calculation results reveal that our proposed model is almost as accurate as the eight-band k·p model; however, it enables much faster calculations and is free from spurious solutions.

Experimental investigation of a near-field focusing performance of the IP-Dip polymer based 2D and 3D Fresnel zone plate geometries fabricated using 3D laser lithography coated with hyperbolic dispersion surface layered metamaterial

Abstract Herein we investigate the character of the near-field emission of a two- (2D) and novel three-dimensional (3D) probe geometries fabricated using 3D direct laser writing lithography. Near-field scans in x–y and y–z planes were measured both before and after the deposition of hyperbolic dispersion metamaterial (HMM) to further verify the directional propagation of the high wave-vector components present in the vicinity of the structures. Additional computational and theoretical characterization forewent the actual experimental measurements, showing a promising performance, particularly for the 3D Fresnel zone plate (FZP). Overall, the experimental data documents a subwavelength resolution with a significant signal enhancement in the focal spot of the 3D FZP and highly subwavelength depth of focus.

High wave vector non-reciprocal spin wave beams

We report unidirectional transmission of micron-wide spin waves beams in a 55 nm thin YIG. We downscaled a chiral coupling technique implementing Ni80Fe20 nanowires arrays with different widths and lattice spacing to study the non-reciprocal transmission of exchange spin waves down to λ ≈ 80 nm. A full spin wave spectroscopy analysis of these high wavevector coupled-modes shows some difficulties to characterize their propagation properties, due to both the non-monotonous field dependence of the coupling efficiency, and also the inhomogeneous stray field from the nanowires.

Theory of sound attenuation in amorphous solids from nonaffine motions

We present a theoretical derivation of acoustic phonon damping in amorphous solids based on the nonaffine response formalism for the viscoelasticity of amorphous solids. The analytical theory takes into account the nonaffine displacements in transverse waves and is able to predict both the ubiquitous low-energy diffusive damping ∼k 2, as well as a novel contribution to the Rayleigh damping ∼k 4 at higher wavevectors and the crossover between the two regimes observed experimentally. The coefficient of the diffusive term is proportional to the microscopic viscous (Langevin-type) damping in particle motion (which arises from anharmonicity), and to the nonaffine correction to the static shear modulus, whereas the Rayleigh damping emerges in the limit of low anharmonicity, consistent with previous observations and macroscopic models. Importantly, the k 4 Rayleigh contribution derived here does not arise from harmonic disorder or elastic heterogeneity effects and it is the dominant mechanism for sound attenuation in amorphous solids as recently suggested by molecular simulations.

Plasmon modes in double-layer biased bilayer graphene

We investigate zero-temperature plasmon modes in a double-layer bilayer graphene structure under a perpendicular electrostatic bias. The numerical results demonstrate that there exist two collective modes which are undamped in the long wavelength limit. The finite potential bias decreases remarkably the plasmon energy in a wide range of wave-vector and makes plasmon branches become Landau damped at a higher wave-vector as compared to unbiased case. We find that the dependence of plasmon dispersions on the system parameters such as the inter-layer separation and carrier density is similar in two cases with and without electrostatic bias.

Optical superoscillation technologies beyond the diffraction limit

Optical superoscillations are rapid, subwavelength spatial variations of the intensity and phase of light, occurring in complex electromagnetic fields formed by the interference of several coherent waves. The discovery of superoscillations stimulated a revision of the limits of classical electromagnetism — in particular, the studies of phenomena such as unlimitedly small energy hotspots, phase singularities, energy backflow, anomalously high wavevectors and their intriguing similarities to the evanescent plasmonic fields on metals. In recent years, the understanding of superoscillatory light has led to the development of superoscillatory lensing, imaging and metrology technologies. Dielectric, metallic and metamaterial nanostructured superoscillatory lenses have been introduced that are able to create hotspots smaller than allowed by conventional lenses. Far-field, label-free, non-intrusive deeply subwavelength super-resolution imaging and metrology techniques that exploit high light localization and rapid variation of phase in superoscillatory fields have also been developed, including new approaches based on artificial intelligence. We review the fundamental properties of superoscillatory optical fields and examine emerging technological applications.

Coupled localized surface plasmon resonances in periodic arrays of gold nanowires on ion-exchange waveguide technology

Coupled localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in periodic arrays of metallic nanowires are attractive for use in sensing applications due to their light enhancement and their sensitivity to the surrounding environment. Due to the interwire coupling, they behave as plasmonic waveguides with high wavevector modes that require bulky methods for efficient excitation. In this contribution, we demonstrate the excitation of coupled LSPRs in gold nanowires with photonic modes supported by an optical waveguide made with ion exchange technology. Currently, although weakly-coupled LSPRs are experimentally demonstrated, strongly-coupled LSPRs are only demonstrated numerically due to the challenge represented by the fabrication of a high density nanowire array with current electron beam lithography. Due to their operation across the visible spectrum and its low-loss coupling to standard optical fibers, integrated nanowires on glass waveguides open new perspectives for the development of hybrid photonic-plasmonic integrated optical devices.

Enhanced Near-Field Radiative Heat Transport between Graphene Metasurfaces with Symmetric Nanopatterns

Metasurfaces, the two-dimensional analog of metamaterials, have exhibited unprecedented optical and thermal properties, including super-Planckian thermal radiation. Asymmetrically patterning two-dimensional materials has been proposed recently to excite additional surface hyperbolic modes, which can enhance radiative energy transport. In the present study, we further look into the effect of symmetric patterns. The graphene metasurfaces are selected as an example to present the improving role of symmetric patterning in radiative heat flux. Fluctuational electrodynamics that incorporates scattering matrix theory with rigorous coupled-wave analysis is employed to exactly calculate the near-field heat flux. It is shown that the radiative heat flux between graphene metasurfaces with square patterns performs a maximum 35-fold enhancement compared with the sheet counterpart, far exceeding the performance based on asymmetric patterning. The enhanced heat flux is dominated by a different mechanism through excitation and redshift of graphene-surface plasmon polaritons with high in-plane wavevector. The effects of substrate, vacuum-gap distance, and surface-geometry parameters between the two metasurfaces with symmetric pattern are also investigated. This work opens an alternative route to enhance and modulate the metasurface-based radiative heat transfer for efficient thermal-energy management at micro- and nanoscales.

Anomalous phase ordering of a quenched ferromagnetic superfluid

Coarsening dynamics, the canonical theory of phase ordering following a quench across a symmetry breaking phase transition, is thought to be driven by the annihilation of topological defects. Here we show that this understanding is incomplete. We simulate the dynamics of an isolated spin-1 condensate quenched into the easy-plane ferromagnetic phase and find that the mutual annihilation of spin vortices does not take the system to the equilibrium state. A nonequilibrium background of long wavelength spin waves remain at the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature, an order of magnitude hotter than the equilibrium temperature. The coarsening continues through a second much slower scale invariant process with a length scale that grows with time as t^{1/3}t1/3. This second regime of coarsening is associated with spin wave energy transport from low to high wavevectors, bringing about the the eventual equilibrium state. The transport displays features of a spin wave energy cascade, providing a potential profitable connection with the emerging field of spin wave turbulence. Strongly coupling the system to a reservoir destroys the second regime of coarsening, allowing the system to thermalise following the annihilation of vortices.

Strongly hybridized dipole-exchange spin waves in thin Fe-N ferromagnetic films

Spin waves propagation in ferromagnetic films, several tens of nanometers thick, have recently received increasing attention, in view of the development of magnonic devices operating in the GHz range of frequencies. A detailed knowledge of the dispersion curves and of the spatial characteristics of the spin-wave modes is preliminary to any technological application, particularly in the ``mesoscopic range'' (50--200 nm) of film thickness, where several dipole-exchange modes may appear in the spectrum, exhibiting frequency crossing and hybridization as a function of their wave number. In this work, the mutual interaction and the hybridization of the dipole-exchange spin-wave modes was investigated in a nitrogen-implanted iron (Fe-N) film, 78-nm-thick, in-plane magnetized. The spin-wave dispersion curves were measured by using Brillouin light scattering, and the experimental results were interpreted combining micromagnetic simulations and theoretical calculations in the framework of a dipole-exchange spin-wave mode approach. A noticeable hybridization between the spin-wave modes was observed, due to the simultaneous presence of a marked perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a rather high saturation magnetization. The hybridization was found to induce a very large gap ($\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\approx}5$ GHz) between the low-frequency spin waves at high wave vector ($k\ensuremath{\approx}{10}^{5}$ rad/cm). Consequently, in such a $k$ range the simultaneous presence of two spin-wave modes with sizeable (${v}_{g}\ensuremath{\approx}1.5$ km/s) but opposite group velocity was observed, opening a way for the potential use of Fe-N films in magnon spintronics.

The High-Resolution Wavevector Analysis for the characterization of the dynamic response of composite plates

The High Resolution Wavevector Analysis (HRWA) is presented and its application illustrated. Extending the High Resolution Wavenumber Analysis method [1] to 2D signals, it allows the wide-band and local characterization of the linear elastic behavior of anisotropic plates. The method belongs to the family of experimental wavenumber-based characterization methods and uses the high resolution signal processing algorithm ESPRIT (Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques) and the ESTER criterion (ESTimation of ERror) to overcome some of the limitation of Fourier-based methods. Three experimental applications on composite plate specimens are presented. First (i), from the out-of-plane velocity field of a sandwich plate with a foam core, different wave types (bending, shear and compression) are extracted. The results are compared with numerical predictions. Second (ii), individual layer contributions are separated on a honeycomb sandwich plate by means of the observation of the dependence of the extracted complex wavevectors as a function of wave propagation direction and frequency. Third (iii), a local wavenumber extraction is performed on a 4-layer carbon-epoxy plate made of fiber patches with spatially varying orientations. The local specific bending stiffness of the plate is identified from the extracted wavevectors and compared with theoretical results.

Broad visible spectral subwavelength polarizer with high extinction ratio using hyperbolic metamaterial.

A subwavelength polarizer with an extinction ratio greater than 50 dB in the visible region (exceeding 80 dB in the 500 to 800 nm wavelength region) is presented that uses hyperbolic metamaterial decorated on each side with a subwavelength grating. The approach is based on the spatial frequency filtering characteristics of the hyperbolic metamaterial with its alternating metal-dielectric nano-film, which enables squeezing of bulk plasmon polaritons to support transverse magnetic polarized light transmission in the high spatial wavevector modes while suppressing other polarization mode waves over the broad visible spectrum. The proposed method exhibits a more realizable fabrication process than that used for a subwavelength polarizer based on high-aspect-ratio grating for broad spectrum and high-extinction-ratio performance. The subwavelength polarizer in this work is potential for the high-sensitivity polarimetric imaging.

Phonons, rotons, and localized Bose-Einstein condensation in liquid He4 confined in nanoporous FSM-16

We present neutron scattering measurements of the phonon-roton and layer modes of liquid helium confined in 28 \AA{} diameter nanopores of FSM-16. The goal is to determine the energy, lifetime, and intensity of the modes as a function of temperature. It is particularly to determine the highest temperature, denoted ${T}_{PR}$, at which well-defined phonon-roton modes are observed at higher wave vector ($Qg0.8$ ${\AA{}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$) in the nanopores. The temperature ${T}_{PR}$, which can be identified with loss of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), can be compared with the superfluid to normal liquid transition temperature, ${T}_{O}$, and other transition temperatures of $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ in the nanopores. The aim is to identify the nature of BEC in a narrow nanopore. Two pressures are investigated, saturated vapor pressure (SVP) and $p=26$ bars. We find that well-defined P-R modes are observed up to temperatures much higher than the conventional superfluid to normal liquid transition temperature, ${T}_{O}$, observed in torsional oscillator measurements, i.e., ${T}_{PR}g{T}_{O}$. At SVP, ${T}_{PR}=1.8$ K and ${T}_{O}=0.9$ K. This supports the interpretation that BEC exists in a localized or partially localized form in the temperature range ${T}_{O}lTl{T}_{PR}$; i.e., there is a localized BEC region lying between the superfluid and fully normal liquid phase, as observed in some other porous media. At close to full filling, the P-R mode energies in FSM-16 are similar to those in bulk liquid $^{4}\mathrm{He}$. However, a substantial P-R mode width at $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ K and at higher temperatures is observed.

The energy point of view in plasmonics

The group velocity of a plasmonic guided mode can be written as the ratio of the flux of the Poynting to the integral of the energy density along the profile of the mode. This theorem, linking the way energy propagates in metals to the properties of guided modes and Bloch modes in a multilayer, provides a unique physical insight in plasmonics. It allows to better understand the link between the negative permittivity of metals and the wide diversity of exotic phenomenon that occur in plasmonics -- like the slowing down of guided modes, the high wavevector and the negative refraction.

\u201cPlasmonics\u201d in free space: observation of giant wavevectors, vortices, and energy backflow in superoscillatory optical fields

Evanescent light can be localized at the nanoscale by resonant absorption in a plasmonic nanoparticle or taper or by transmission through a nanohole. However, a conventional lens cannot focus free-space light beyond half of the wavelength λ. Nevertheless, precisely tailored interference of multiple waves can form a hotspot in free space of an arbitrarily small size, which is known as superoscillation. Here, we report a new type of integrated metasurface interferometry that allows for the first time mapping of fields with a deep subwavelength resolution ~λ/100. The findings reveal that an electromagnetic field near the superoscillatory hotspot has many features similar to those found near resonant plasmonic nanoparticles or nanoholes: the hotspots are surrounded by nanoscale phase singularities and zones where the phase of the superoscillatory field changes more than tenfold faster than a free-propagating plane wave. Areas with high local wavevectors are pinned to phase vortices and zones of energy backflow (~λ/20 in size) that contribute to tightening of the main focal spot size beyond the Abbe–Rayleigh limit. Our observations reveal some analogy between plasmonic nanofocusing of evanescent waves and superoscillatory nanofocusing of free-space waves and prove the fundamental link between superoscillations and superfocusing, offering new opportunities for nanoscale metrology and imaging.