We introduce a new method for performing ultrafast imaging and tracking of surface plasmon wave packets that propagate on metal films. We demonstrate the efficiency of leakage radiation microscopy implemented in the time domain for measuring both group and phase velocities of near-field pulses with a high level of precision. The versatility of our far-field imaging method is particularly appealing in the context of ultrafast near-field optics.
We have observed laser-like emission of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) decoupled to the glass prism in an attenuated total reflection setup. SPPs were excited by optically pumped molecules in a polymeric film deposited on the top of the silver film. Stimulated emission was characterized by a distinct threshold in the input-output dependence and narrowing of the emission spectrum. The observed stimulated emission and corresponding to it compensation of the metallic absorption loss by gain enables many applications of metamaterials and nanoplasmonic devices.
We propose a scheme to obtain a low-loss propagation of Airy surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) along the interface between a dielectric and a negative-index metamaterial (NIMM). We show that, by using the transverse-magnetic mode and the related destructive interference effect between electric and magnetic absorption responses, the propagation loss of the Airy SPPs can be largely suppressed when the optical frequency is close to the lossless point of the NIMM. As a result, the Airy SPPs obtained in our scheme can propagate more than 6-time long distance than that in conventional dielectric-metal interfaces.
Frequency to time mapping is a powerful technique for observing ultrafast phenomena and non-repetitive events in optics. However, many optical sources operate in wavelength regions, or at power levels, that are not compatible with standard frequency to time mapping implementations. The recently developed free-space angular chirp enhanced delay (FACED) removes many of these limitations, and offers a linear frequency to time mapping in any wavelength region where high-reflectivity mirrors and diffractive optics are available. In this work, we present a detailed formulation of the optical transfer function of a FACED device. Experimentally, we verify the properties of this transfer function, and then present simple guidelines to guarantee the correct operation of a FACED frequency to time measurement. We also experimentally demonstrate the real-time spectral analysis of femtosecond and picosecond pulses using this system.
We demonstrate both analytically and numerically the existence of optical pulling forces acting on particles located near plasmonic interfaces. Two main factors contribute to the appearance of this negative reaction force. The interference between the incident and reflected waves induces a rotating dipole with an asymmetric scattering pattern while the directional excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) enhances the linear momentum of scattered light. The strongly asymmetric SPP excitation is determined by spin-orbit coupling of the rotating dipole and surface plasmon polariton. As a result of the total momentum conservation, the force acting on the particle points in a direction opposite to the incident wave propagation. We derive analytical expressions for the force acting on a dipolar particles placed in the proximity of plasmonic surfaces. Analytical expressions for this pulling force are derived within the dipole approximation and are in excellent agreement with results of electromagnetic numerical calculations. The forces acting on larger particles are analyzed numerically, beyond the dipole approximation.
Surface states generally degrade semiconductor device performance by raising the charge injection barrier height, introducing localized trap states, inducing surface leakage current, and altering the electric potential. Therefore, there has been an endless effort to use various surface passivation treatments to suppress the undesirable impacts of the surface states. We show that the giant built-in electric field created by the surface states can be harnessed to enable passive wavelength conversion without utilizing any nonlinear optical phenomena. Photo-excited surface plasmons are coupled to the surface states to generate an electron gas, which is routed to a nanoantenna array through the giant electric field created by the surface states. The induced current on the nanoantennas, which contains mixing product of different optical frequency components, generates radiation at the beat frequencies of the incident photons. We utilize the unprecedented functionalities of plasmon-coupled surface states to demonstrate passive wavelength conversion of nanojoule optical pulses at a 1550 nm center wavelength to terahertz regime with record-high efficiencies that exceed nonlinear optical methods by 4-orders of magnitude. The presented scheme can be used for optical wavelength conversion to different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum ranging from microwave to infrared regimes by using appropriate optical beat frequencies.