In this study, we extended the plasmon hybridization method from a single nanoparticle to a complex planar nanostructure. This is achieved through a decomposition of the complex nanostructure into nanoparticle building blocks in its most fundamental forms. Using the gammadion planar nanostructure as an example, we validated our theory by comparing the field profile in the gammadion’s arms under the influence of an incident circularly polarized wave. This further allows us to address the origin of the plasmonics modes in the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum of the gammadion nanostructure. The use of this hybridization method provides a simple and intuitive explanation on how conductive and inductive coupling may result from complex planar nanostructures. Understanding these coupling effects open up the path to study the optical properties of a complex nanostructure. With our approach, we will be able to apply such top down hybridization studies to other complex planar structures. With knowledge of the origin of these CD modes, we can gain further insight on the modes of chiral nanostructures, allowing us to further enhance the field for ultrasensitive sensing of chiral micro and macro molecules.
Chiral plasmonic nanostructures offer the ability to achieve strong optical circular dichroism (CD) activity over a broad spectral range, which has been challenging for chiral molecules. Chiral plasmonic nanostructures have been extensively studied based on top-down and bottom-up fabrication techniques. Particularly, in the top-down electron-beam lithography, 3D plasmonic nanostructure fabrication involves layer-by-layer patterning and complex alignment, which is time-consuming and causes many defects in the structures. Here, we present a free-standing 3D chiral plamonic nanostructures using the electron-beam lithography technique with much simplified fabrication processes. The 3D chiral plasmonic nanostructures consist of a free-standing ultrathin silicon nitride membrane with well-aligned L-shape metal nanostructures on one side and disk-shape ones on the other side. The free-standing membrane provides an ultra-smooth metal/dielectric interface and uniformly defines the gap between the upper and lower layers in an array of chiral nanostructures. Such free-standing chiral plasmonic nanostructures exhibit strong CD at optical frequencies, which can be engineered by simply changing the disk size on one side of the membrane. Experimental results are in good agreement with the finite-difference time-domain simulations. Such free-standing chiral plasmonics holds great potential for chirality analysis of biomolecules, drugs, and chemicals.
Laser beam shaping is a widely used technique in many application areas, such as material processing, lithography, optical data storage, and medical procedures. In most cases a laser beam shaping system consists of conventional lenses with curved surfaces. However these lenses are bulky and their fabrication precisions are limited. In this work, we design and fabricate a lens for laser beam shaping using nanostructures. The lens is designed with traditional geometrical optical methods, using energy conservation and optical coordinate transformation algorithms. But instead of using curved surfaces to implement the lens design, we realize the designs with dielectric nanostructures. The lens is then fabricated using electron beam lithography to achieve a high precision. The fabricated lens has very low profile and is capable of fine tuning laser beams. The lens is then experimentally tested. In the experimental setup a laser beam is directed into a multimode fiber and the irradiance of the output beam irradiance profile is measured. Then the lens is placed in front of the multimode fiber and the outcome beam irradiance profile is measured again to test the effects of our laser beam shaping lens.
In this paper, we design layered composite meta-structures to investigate its’ effect on the optical activity and circular
dichroism (CD). The layered composite meta-structures consist of thin gammadion nanostructure with thickness λ/10,
where λ is the incident wavelength. The layered meta-structures are alternate between a dielectric and gold (AU)
material. Each layered composite meta-gammadion is arranged together in an array of pitch 700 nm. In the first case, 3
layers of meta-gammadion, with metal-insulator-metal (MIM) and insulator-metal-insulator (IMI) configuration are
simulated with material properties from optical hand book. There are 3 modes in the CD spectrum, which can be
characterized into Bloch CD mode and hybrid CD modes. Compared with the CD spectrum of whole structure of
gammadion in gold with same total height, the CD of the MIM layered composite are larger. When the number layer
increase to 5, it is observed that the CD is reduced by 30% and there is a red shift in the Bloch CD mode and a slight blue
shift in the hybrid CD modes. By further increasing the number of layers to 7, we observed further CD increment and
larger wavelength shift in the CD modes. The layered composite meta-gammadion is fabricated using template stripping
method. Experimental results also show excellent agreement with the simulation results for CD and wavelength shift. We
submerge the layered meta-gammadion into a solution of chiral molecules. The CD spectrum of the meta-gammadion
shows a larger wavelength shift compared to pure metal structures. This indicate a more sensitive and robust detection of
chiral molecules.
Chirality effect has been reported from the interaction of light with chiral plasmonic
nanostructures. Such nanostructure enhances the chirality response of the chiral
molecules and provides a good platform for biochemical sensing. The ability to detect
chiral molecules has been a long term goal of biologists and chemist because chirality
is inherent in macromolecules such as proteins and DNA in human body. One of the
challenging problems is manipulation of the CD spectrum. Here, we investigate the
switchable chiral effects of subwavelength nanostructures array with the unit cell
makes up of double-layered nanostrips in four-fold rotationally symmetric
arrangement. The switchable chirality effect has observed in both plasmonic and
Bloch modes when the mutual angle between the first layer and second layer rotates
with respect to each other. The magnitude of chirality changes from positive to
negative when the mutual angle rotates from 0o to 90o. In the order hand, the
nanostructures change from right-handed to left-handed structures without altering the
polarization of incident light, or vice versa, upon the mutual rotation angles. Thus, by
manipulating the mutual rotation angle, the handedness of the nanostructure will
switch and cause the reversal of the outgoing light.
High power fiber lasers are proposed to be a better candidate than conventional solid-state lasers for industries such
as precision engineering since they are more compact and easier to operate. However, the beam quality generally
degrades when one scales up the output power of the fiber laser.
One can improve the output beam quality by altering the phase of the laser beam at the exit surface, and a promising
method to do so is by integrating specially designed nano-structures at the laser facets. In fact, this method was recently
demonstrated – by integrating gold concentric ring grating structures to the facet of a quantum cascade laser, one
observes significant improvement in the beam quality. Nevertheless, to improve the beam quality of high power fiber
lasers using the method mentioned above, the material of the nano-structures must be able to withstand high laser fluence
in the range of J/cm2.
In this work, we investigated the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) values of a suitable material for high
intensity fiber laser applications. Consequently, we demonstrated that the shortlisted material and the fabricated nanostructures
can withstand laser fluence exceeding 1.0 J/cm2.
In this paper, we rotate an array of asymmetrical double layer of 4-strips windmill structure to investigate its effect on
the chirality and sensitivity detection of biomolecular structures. The structure is made up of silver material with 300nm
pitch and 10nm separation between layers. The spectrum shows two resonance modes on 600THz and 900THz with
linear polarized light normally incident on the structure. We investigate the CD by rotating one of the layers with respect
to the horizontal axis of the other layer by the angle θ. It is observed that the CD spectra at different angles are different.
The rotation resulted in larger wavelength shift of the CD spectra. In addition, the CD also increases with the rotating
angle given a larger absorption difference between the left and right handed circular polarized light.
In this paper, the effect of tapered asymmetrical gammadion on the optical rotational properties and sensitivity detection
of biomolecular structures is presented. The asymmetrical structure is made up of gold material on a glass structure and
immersed in water. The chirality of the un-rotated array is first determined by measuring the circular dichroism (CD)
spectrum. Three modes, arising from Bloch periodic theory and surface resonance mode are observed. Then each
asymmetrical gammadion structure is tapered at the arms. Tapering fraction, which define the ratio of tapered end to the untapered end is used for defining the new design. The designs are then fabricated using e-beam lithography and tested using the polarimeter for CD spectra. The spectra show that the three CD modes changes in degree amplitude and wavelength, especially for smaller tapering fractions.
In this paper, small plasmonic nanobumps, which consist of metal/dielectric layers are placed on the ring of optical
vortex to enhance electric field ampltiude. In this paper, a plasmonic nanobump is placed on the ring of smaller optical
vortex. The smaller optical vortex form from the resultant topological phase between the handedness of the incident
circular polarized light and the nanoslits spiral. Different designs of plasmonic nanobump are investigated, and tapered
nanobump produced higher field enhancement due to higher surface charge density at the tapering end. Higher field
intensity at the tip of the plasmonic nanobump produces lower potential, which attract nanoparticle to the region. The
optical force increases by the square of the electric field amplitude. This high electric field intensity at the plasmonic
nanobump functions as attractive node, which trap molecules inside the optical vortex. Additional plasmonic nanobumps
are added onto the other locations of the optical vortex to manipulate the particle trapping positions. This allows the
precise control of molecule’s position and movement for imaging, characterization and analysis, which is useful for
mobile lab-on-chip devices.
In this paper, the near field distribution patterns excited from half spiral nanoslits and gratings are investigated. The
various near field distribution patterns observed are due to the interference of propagating surface plasmon emerging
from the nanoslits or gratings. The half spiral nanoslits are incident with left and right-handed circular polarization. The
resulting focal spots are found at different positions for left (LHC) and right-handed circular (RHC) polarizations. This is
due to the change in phase difference of propagating surface plasmon waves emerging from the nanoslit when excited by
different circular polarizations. The distance between the focal spots for left and right-handed polarizations is λspp/2. In addition, the half spiral nanoslit is also illuminated with linear polarization in different rotational angles. This paper also includes the near field distributions that result from the interference of surface plasmon polariton fields with partial spiral shape. It is believed that these interesting field patterns due to different arrangements of nanoslits could be used for trapping molecules, near field imaging and sensing.
In this paper we demonstrate how an elliptically shaped semiconductor microcavity can be used to generate surface
plasmons (SP) mode by pumping current and injecting optical pulse. After achieving stable lasing mode, external
magnetic field is applied to a small elliptical confined area on the elliptical microcavity. The applied magnetic field
produces Lorentz torque and "pushes" the electrons to the edge of the microcavity. Strong electron plasma is built up on
the boundary of the microcavity and air interface as more electrons accumulate. The laser light source interacts with the
electron plasma at the boundary of microcavity and excites surface plasmon mode. The direct excitation of SPP modes
could be used to extract the laser light from elliptical microcavity source and results in a lower coupling loss and higher
efficient small coupling system.
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