No Arabic abstract
We analytically and numerically clarify the physical origin and the behaviour of the Norton-wave scattered by a narrow slit, at optical frequencies. This apparently surface field, which comes in addition to the surface plasmon polariton and classical cylindrical lightwaves, features its own scattering lobe associated to oscillating induced currents extending within both horizontal metal parts forming the slit. Theory is given taking into account the finite size of the aperture.
In this paper we show that graphene surface plasmons can be excited when an electromagnetic wave packet impinges on a single metal slit covered with graphene. The excitation of the plasmons localized over the slit is revealed by characteristic peaks in the absorption spectrum. It is shown that the position of the peaks can be tuned either by the graphene doping level or by the dielectric function of the material filling the slit. The whole system forms the basis for a plasmonic sensor when the slit is filled with an analyte.
The exciting discovery of bi-dimensional systems in condensed matter physics has triggered the search of their photonic analogues. In this letter, we describe a general scheme to reproduce some of the systems ruled by a tight-binding Hamiltonian in a locally resonant metamaterial: by specifically controlling the structure and the composition it is possible to engineer the band structure at will. We numerically and experimentally demonstrate this assertion in the microwave domain by reproducing the band structure of graphene, the most famous example of those 2D-systems, and by accurately extracting the Dirac cones. This is a direct evidence that opting for a crystalline description of those sub-wavelength scaled systems, as opposed to the usual description in terms of effective parameters, makes them a really convenient tabletop platform to investigate the tantalizing challenges that solid-state physics offer.
We show that interference can be the principle of operation of an all-optical switch and other nanoscale plasmonic interference devices (PIDs). The optical response of two types of planar plasmonic waveguides is studied theoretically: bent chains and Y-shaped configurations of closely-spaced metallic nanospheres. We study symmetric Y-shape arrays as an example of an all-optical switch and demonstrate that effective phase- and amplitude-sensitive control of the output signal can be achieved due to interference effects.
An analytical method for diffraction of a plane electromagnetic wave at periodically-modulated graphene sheet is presented. Both interface corrugation and periodical change in the optical conductivity are considered. Explicit expressions for reflection, transmission, absorption and transformation coefficients in arbitrary diffraction orders are presented. The dispersion relation and decay rates for graphene plasmons of the grating are found. Simple analytical expressions for the value of the band gap in the vicinity of the first Brillouin zone edge is derived. The optimal amplitude and wavelength, guaranteeing the best matching of the incident light with graphene plasmons are found for the conductivity grating. The analytical results are in a good agreement with first-principle numeric simulations.
We report on the first use of laser ablation to make sub-millimeter, broad-band, anti-reflection coatings (ARC) based on sub-wavelength structures (SWS) on alumina and sapphire. We used a 515 nm laser to produce pyramid-shaped structures with pitch of about 320 $mu$m and total height of near 800 $mu$m. Transmission measurements between 70 and 140 GHz are in agreement with simulations using electromagnetic propagation software. The simulations indicate that SWS ARC with the fabricated shape should have a fractional bandwidth response of $Delta u / u_{center} = 0.55$ centered on 235 GHz for which reflections are below 3%. Extension of the bandwidth to both lower and higher frequencies, between few tens of GHz and few THz, should be straightforward with appropriate adjustment of laser ablation parameters.