Propagating Surface Plasmon Research Articles

Ultra-broadband mid-infrared TE01 vector mode selector based on ring-core few-mode photonic crystal fiber

A mid-infrared TE01 vector mode selector based on chalcogenide ring-core few-mode fiber is proposed and investigated numerically by the finite element method (FEM). By embedding metal composite nanowire in the PCF core to generate surface plasmon resonance, TE01 vector mode could propagate due to low loss transmission, whereas the fundamental mode, TM01 and HE21 modes could hardly be maintained due to high loss. The effects of structural parameters on mode transmission characteristics and mode loss in photonic crystal fibers in the mid-infrared wavelength range are investigated. Under the optimal structural parameters, the loss ratios of each mode to TE01 mode are more than 50 in the waveband range from 2 to 3 μm, which means the TE01 single-mode transmission can be maintained in ultra-wide mid-infrared band. The designed fiber can be connected with the mid-infrared laser as a vector mode selection device to efficiently output pure TE01 mode cylindrical vector beam, which makes preferable application in mid-infrared optical communication, optical capture, super-resolution imaging, biochemical sensing and other fields.

Simultaneous Generation of Surface Plasmon and Lossy Mode Resonances in the Same Planar Platform.

A planar waveguide consisting of a coverslip for a microscope glass slide was deposited in one of its two faces with two materials: silver and indium tin oxide (ITO). The incidence of light by the edge of the coverslip permitted the generation of both surface plasmon and lossy mode resonances (SPRs and LMRs) in the same transmission spectrum with a single optical source and detector. This proves the ability of this optical platform to be used as a benchmark for comparing different optical phenomena generated by both metal and dielectric materials, which can be used to progress in the assessment of different sensing technologies. Here the SPR and the LMR were compared in terms of sensitivity to refractive index and figure of merit (FoM), at the same time it was demonstrated that both resonances can operate independently when silver and ITO coated regions are surrounded by different refractive index liquids. The results were supported with numerical results that confirm the experimental ones.

Optical Rashba Effect in a Light-Emitting Perovskite Metasurface.

The Rashba effect, i.e., the splitting of electronic spin-polarized bands in the momentum space of a crystal with broken inversion symmetry, has enabled the realization of spin-orbitronic devices, in which spins are manipulated by spin-orbit coupling. In optics, where the helicity of light polarization represents the spin degree of freedom for spin-momentum coupling, the optical Rashba effect is manifested by the splitting of optical states with opposite chirality in the momentum space. Previous realizations of the optical Rashba effect relied on passive devices determining the surface plasmon or light propagation inside nanostructures, or the directional emission of chiral luminescence when hybridized with light-emitting media. An active device underpinned by the optical Rashba effect is demonstrated here, in which a monolithic halide perovskite metasurface emits highly directional chiral photoluminescence. An all-dielectric metasurface design with broken in-plane inversion symmetry is directly embossed into the high-refractive-index, light-emitting perovskite film, yielding a degree of circular polarization of photoluminescence of 60% at room temperature.

Self-Assembled Metal Nanohole Arrays with Tunable Plasmonic Properties for SERS Single-Molecule Detection.

Arrays of metal nano-holes have proved to be among of the most promising structures for applications in the field of nano-photonics and optoelectronics. Supporting both localized and propagating surface plasmons resonances, they are characterized by very high versatility thanks to the tunability of these modes, by means of the change of their periodicity, the size of the holes and metal composition. The interaction between different optical features can be exploited to modulate electromagnetic field distribution leading various hot-spots excitations on the metal surfaces. In this work, long range ordered arrays of nano-holes in thin gold films, with different geometrical characteristics, were fabricated by a modified nano-sphere lithography protocol, which allows precise control on holes’ dimensions together with the preservation of the order and of the pristine periodicity of the array. An in-depth analysis of the correlation between surface plasmon modes interference and its effect on electromagnetic field distribution is proposed, both by numerical simulations and experimentally. Finally, metal nano-holes arrays are exploited for surface enhanced Raman experiments, evaluating and comparing their performances by the estimation of the enhancement factor. Values close to the single molecule detection are obtained for most of the samples, proving their potentialities in surface enhanced spectroscopy applications.

Plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence from MoS2 monolayer with topological insulator nanoparticle

Abstract Topological insulators (TI), as a kind of fantastic nanomaterial with excellent electrical and optical properties, have attracted particular attention due to the promising applications in optoelectronic devices. Herein, we experimentally demonstrated the interaction between light and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) monolayer with an antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) TI nanoparticle. It was found that photoluminescence (PL) emission and Raman scattering signal can be boosted by 5 and 8 folds in MoS2 monolayer integrated with the TI nanoparticle, respectively. The measured and simulated dark-field scattering spectra illustrated that the enhancement of light–matter interaction could be derived from the generation of localized surface plasmons on the TI nanoparticle with distinctly boosted electric field. We also found that there exists a redshift of 5 nm for the enhanced PL peak, which could be attributed to the formation of trions in MoS2 induced by plasmon doping. This work would provide a new pathway for the applications of TI nanoparticles in the optoelectronics, especially light–matter interaction enhancement.

Controllable polarization dependence in quantum dots and silver nanowire coupling system

Owe to the ability of supporting propagating surface plasmons, silver nanowire can be decent candidate as optical nanoantenna to modulate the polarization property of nano-emitters. Here, we created a quantum dots and silver nanowire coupling system to implement the controllable polarization dependence of this antenna effect. Several basic modes are mainly explored with both positive and negative excitation and observation directions. For the contrast excitation directions, both the center and the end fluorescence spots have reverse polarization dependence characterizations. While the controllable polarization dependence only appears at the center spot for the different observation angles. Based on these modes, diverse polarization dependence properties can be extended flexibly. The reasons for the phenomena are explained using the theoretical simulation. The numerical calculation shows the silver nanowire can act both optical receiving antenna and transmitting antenna in this process. Achieving on the controllable polarization dependence, our results are useful in the investigation about the coupling of nano-emitters and optical antenna.

The influence of single layer MoS2 flake on the propagated surface plasmons of silver nanowire

We demonstrate enhancing the excitation and transmission efficiency of the propagated surface plasmon (SP) of an Ag nanowire (Ag NW) in hybrid Ag–MoS2 structures by contrasting the SP propagation of the Ag NW on different substrates, including SiO2 and monolayer MoS2, or partially overlapping the Ag NW on MoS2 flakes. The simulation results show that the leaky radiation of the hybrid plasmonic modes H1 and H2 can be prominently suppressed due to the high refractive index dielectric layer of MoS2, which provides an optical barrier for blocking the leaky radiation, resulting in reduced propagation loss. This paper provides a feasible and effective method to improve the SP propagation length.

Plasmonic meniscus lenses

Controlling and manipulating the propagation of surface plasmons has become a field of intense research given their potential in a wide range of applications, such as plasmonic circuits, optical trapping, sensors, and lensing. In this communication, we exploit classical optics techniques to design and evaluate the performance of plasmonic lenses with meniscus-like geometries. To do this, we use an adapted lens maker equation that incorporates the effective medium concepts of surface plasmons polaritons travelling in dielectric-metal and dielectric-dielectric-metal configurations. The design process for such plasmonic meniscus lenses is detailed and two different plasmonic focusing structures are evaluated: a plasmonic lens with a quasi-planar output surface and a plasmonic meniscus lens having a convex-concave input–output surface, respectively. The structures are designed to have an effective focal length of 2λ0 at the visible wavelength of 633 nm. A performance comparison of the two plasmonic lenses is shown, demonstrating improvements to the power enhancement, with a 22% and 16.5% increase when using 2D (ideal) or 3D (realistic plasmonic) meniscus designs, respectively, compared to the power enhancement obtained with convex-planar lenses. It is also shown that the depth of focus of the focal spot presents a 19.8% decrease when using meniscus lenses in 2D and a 34.3% decrease when using the proposed 3D plasmonic meniscus designs. The broadband response of a plasmonic meniscus lens (550–750 nm wavelength range) is also studied along with the influence of potential fabrication errors on the generated effective focal length. The proposed plasmonic lenses could be exploited as alternative focusing devices for surface plasmons polaritons in applications such as sensing.

Directional control of propagating graphene plasmons by strain engineering

Control of propagating surface plasmon on a scale beyond the diffraction limit is important for the development of integrated nanophotonic circuits and optical information technology. In this paper, a strain-based modulation mechanism for directional control of propagating graphene plasmons was proposed. We demonstrated numerically that the GPs can be directionally controlled by the implementation of strain on graphene. The topologies of GPs excited by a z-polarized optical emitter in unstrained and strained graphene were illustrated both in real space and momentum space. When imposing strain engineering to graphene in different directions with a different modulus, multi-dimensional control of GPs in any direction can be realized. The simulated propagation length ratio η of the GPs can reach 3.5 when the strain with a modulus of 0.20 is applied along or perpendicular to the zigzag direction of graphene. Besides, the effect of PDMS on GPs was investigated finally for the experiments to be carried out and we show that the PDMS does not affect the generation of directional GPs under strain engineering. Our proposed directional control of GPs not only has the advantages of wide operating wavelength but does not require additional coupling mechanisms, which is beneficial to the design of integrated photonic devices.

Remote Dual-Cavity Enhanced Second Harmonic Generation in a Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide.

On-chip nanoscale optical platforms capable of efficient second harmonic generation (SHG) are highly desired for optical sensing, subwavelength coherent sources, and quantum photonic devices. Here, we develop a remotely excited dual cavity resonance scheme to achieve significantly enhanced SHG in a CdSe nanobelt on Au film hybrid waveguide system. The SHG emission with superior efficiency originates from counter-propagating plasmonic modes interference in a horizontal Fabry-Pérot (FP) cavity enabled by remote excitation of propagating surface plasmons, which is further enhanced through a vertical FP cavity. With this effective cooperation of hybrid plasmon modes and FP cavity modes, 2 orders of magnitude enhancement of the conversion efficiency (3.5 × 10-4 W-1) is achieved compared to the off-resonance case. Our design provides new insight into the development of a multifunctional hybrid plasmonic device toward on-chip nonlinear nanophotonic applications.

Effect of roughness on surface plasmons propagation along deep and shallow metallic diffraction gratings.

The roughness of shallow or deep metallic diffraction gratings modifies the propagation of surface plasmon mode along the metallic-air interface. The scattering losses lead to a spectral or angular broadening of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and to a shift of the resonance wavelength and coupling angle. This mechanism is deeply analyzed both experimentally and theoretically to overcome these effects when such structures, in particular deep ones, are used as SPR-based sensors.

Surface plasmon propagation imaging by a photon scanning tunneling microscope

This paper describes the first direct observation of surface plasmon propagation on a metallic thin film deposited on a glass slide, thus facilitating the first direct measurement of the propagation length. This was achieved using photon scanning tunneling microscopy (PSTM). Subsequently, near-field observations of the surface plasmon buried at the metal-glass interface, generated from a discontinuity in the metallic thin film, were reported.

Analysis of the surface plasmon resonance interferometric imaging performance of scanning confocal surface plasmon microscopy.

Here, we apply rigorous coupled-wave theory to analyze the optical phase imaging performance of scanning confocal surface plasmon microscope. The scanning confocal surface plasmon resonance microscope is an embedded interferometric microscope interfering between two integrated optical beams. One beam is provided by the central part around the normal incident angle of the back focal plane, and the other beam is the incident angles beyond the critical angle, exciting the surface plasmon. Furthermore, the two beams can form an interference signal inside a confocal pinhole in the image plane, which provides a well-defined path for the surface plasmon propagation. The scanning confocal surface plasmon resonance microscope operates by scanning the sample along the optical axis z, so-called V(z). The study investigates two imaging modes: non-quantitative imaging and quantitative imaging modes. We also propose a theoretical framework to analyze the scanning confocal surface plasmon resonance microscope compared to non-interferometric surface plasmon microscopes and quantify quantitative performance parameters including spatial resolution and optical contrast for non-quantitative imaging; sensitivity and crosstalk for quantitative imaging. The scanning confocal SPR microscope can provide a higher spatial resolution, better sensitivity, and lower crosstalk measurement. The confocal SPR microscope configuration is a strong candidate for high throughput measurements since it requires a smaller sensing channel than the other SPR microscopes.

Direction‐ and Polarization‐Resolved Radiation of Coupled Plasmon Modes on Silver Nanowires

By modulating the propagation of surface plasmons on metal nanowires, it is possible to build integrated nanophotonic circuits for optical information processing. However, the applicability of this emerging technology is complicated by the fact that several plasmon modes with different propagation behavior can be launched by the same excitation source. Herein, it is shown that it is possible to distinguish such modes by polarization‐resolved Fourier‐space leakage radiation microscopy. Mode assignment of coupled plasmon modes on silver nanowires is achieved by establishing a one‐to‐one correspondence between experimental Fourier patterns and electrodynamics simulations of leakage radiation directionality and polarization orientation. The work highlights the complicated coupling and interference of plasmon modes on nanowire waveguides and presents a convenient methodology for on‐chip analysis of their mode‐specific excitation and propagation characteristics.

Dispersion of resonant modes in patch antenna lattices.

Spectroscopic polar angle resolved Mueller matrix ellipsometry at multiple azimuthal incidences, together with a full-field model, reveal new details in the interplay between localized gap surface plasmon resonances and propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in a rectangular array of metal-insulator-metal patches. A plane-wave expansion of the field in the insulator shows that the fundamental localized resonances are composed of oppositely propagating modes. Sharp dispersive resonances observed in p-polarization, excited near the opening of diffracted orders, are shown to be grating coupled SPPs. The SPPs show strong coupling with localized modes of similar symmetry, while they appear suppressed by modes of dissimilar symmetry.

THz pulse train generation through ultrafast development of surface plasmon-polariton modulation instability

Propagation of high-intensity electromagnetic waves in a waveguide structure could initiate nonlinear effects resulting in drastic changes of their spatial and temporal characteristics. We study the modulation instability effect induced by propagation of surface plasmon polaritons in a silver thin-film waveguide. The nonlinear Schrodinger equation for propagating surface plasmon wave is obtained. It is shown numerically that the modulation instability effect can give rise to ultrafast spatial redistribution and longitudinal localization of surface plasmon-polariton wave energy in subwavelength scale. The dependence of plasmon wave dispersion and nonlinear characteristics on metal film thickness is considered. We demonstrate that the use of films with the thickness varying along the waveguide length allows reduction of the generated pulse width and increase of frequency comb bandwidth. The proposed technique is promising for design of ultra-compact (tens of nm) optical generators delivering pulse trains with the repetition rate higher than 1 THz.

Enhancing SERS Intensity by Coupling PSPR and LSPR in a Crater Structure with Ag Nanowires

The sensitive characteristics of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) can be applied to various fields, and this has been of interest to many researchers. Propagating surface plasmon resonance (PSPR) was initially utilized but, recently, it has been studied coupled with localized surface plasmon resonance that occurs in metal nanostructures. In this study, a new type of metal microstructure, named crater, was used for generating PSPR and Ag nanowires (AgNWs) for the generation of LSPR. A crater structure was fabricated on a GaAs (100) wafer using the wet chemical etching method. Then, a metal film was deposited inside the crater, and AgNWs were uniformly coated inside using the spray coating method. Metal films were used to enhance the electromagnetic field when coupled with AgNWs to obtain a high SERS intensity. The SERS intensity measured inside the crater structure with deposited AgNWs was up to 17.4 times higher than that of the flat structure with a deposited Ag film. These results suggest a new method for enhancing the SERS phenomenon, and it is expected that a larger SERS intensity can be obtained by fine-tuning the crater size and diameter and the length of the AgNWs.

Coherence Between Different Propagating Surface Plasmon Polariton Modes Excited by Quantum Mechanical Tunnel Junctions

AbstractCoherence between different surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes excited by inelastically tunneling electrons in biased metal–insulator–metal tunnel junctions (MIM‐TJs) is demonstrated. By employing a dedicated SPP stripe waveguide with MIM‐TJ, an effective double‐slit configuration similar to the Young's experiment is realized for an electrically biased SPP source. The spatial correlation between different SPP modes originates from a single inelastic tunneling event and leads to strong interference in the far‐field, observed as alternate bright and dark fringes in the Fourier plane. The measured fringe‐spacing inversely follows the stripe waveguide length, with upper limit dictated by the SPP propagation length, confirming the SPP mediated spatial correlation. Finite difference time domain simulations support the experimental findings. Also, the experimental and simulation results unambiguously demonstrate the two‐step plasmonic decay process in plasmonic MIM‐TJs. The results presented here provide a simple and robust demonstration of the inherent coherence existing between different decay channels (plasmons and photons) of the inelastically tunneling electrons and can be exploited for plasmonic applications with tailored spatial coherence with implications in plasmon amplification and quantum information processing.

Helicity-selective Raman scattering from in-plane anisotropic α-MoO3

Hyperbolic crystals, such as α-MoO3, can support large wavevectors and photon density as compared to the commonly used dielectric crystals, which makes them a highly desirable platform for compact photonic devices. The extreme anisotropy of the dielectric constant in these crystals is intricately linked with the anisotropic character of the phonons, which along with photon confinement leads to the rich physics of phonon polaritons. However, the chiral nature of phonons in these hyperbolic crystals have not been studied in detail. In this study, we report our observations of helicity selective Raman scattering from flakes of α-MoO3. Both helicity-preserving and helicity-reversing Raman scattering are observed. Our studies reveal that helical selectivity is largely governed by the underlying crystal symmetry. This study shed light on the chiral character of the high symmetry phonons in these hyperbolic crystals. It paves the way for exploiting proposed schemes of coupling chiral phonon modes into propagating surface plasmon polaritons and realizing compact photonic circuits based on helical polarized light.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering with gold-coated silicon nanopillars arrays: The influence of size and spatial order

Nanopillars have been extensively explored as promising substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) owing to their high sensitivity and excellent reproducibility. Most of the researches have been focused on the fabrication methods of nanopillars, and the dependences of SERS effects on geometrical size and spatial order are rarely investigated. In this work, SERS properties of nanopillars with different sizes (115–185 nm) and spatial orders (square and rhombus orders) have been studied. The work has shown that the nanopillars not only have high enhancement capability and high signal reproducibility, but also the enhancement is insensitive to the size and spatial orders. The measured enhancement factors (EFs) are 2.3–4.0 × 106 and signal reproducibility (relative standard deviation, RSD) are ∼ 5.2%–6.9%, which are among the best of the similar SERS substrates reported. The variation of SERS intensity was as low as approximately 4.8% with the variation of pillar size from 115, 135, 145, to 160 nm. The insensitiveness and high reproducibility have been ascribed to the combined excitation of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and propagating surface plasmons (SPPs) of the nanopillars. Optical properties of the nanopillars are studied both experimentally and numerically to understand the physics behind the SERS performance.