0000000000653809
AUTHOR
Carmen N. Afonso
Stable two -dimensional spatial solitons in heavy metal oxide glasses
In this Communication, a stable self-confined propagation with ps near-infrared (NIR) pulses and over several Rayleigh lengths is demonstrated for the first time . Multiphoton absorption is shown to saturate the self-focusing response in a novel glass of the ternary system Nb2O5-O2-PbO (NPG) exhibiting a high refractive index (2-2.1) in the NIR and an energy gap of 3.52 eV. NPG belongs to the family of heavy metal oxides, widely studied for its fast and high nonlinearity in the infrared.
Surface plasmons and vibrations of self-assembled silver nanocolumns
6 pags. ; 5 figs. 1 tab.
In situ diagnostics and control of laser-induced removal of iron oxide layers
The mechanism of laser-induced removal of thermally grown iron oxide layers on pure iron has been investigated by means of in situ reflectivity measurements. The experiments were carried out by irradiating the sample with λ=584 nm, τ=6 ns (FWHM) laser pulses in a buffer borate solution after a cathodic polarisation of - 1.5 V/SCE had been applied during 40 min. The removal efficiency has been studied as a function of the number of laser pulses, for several fluence values and for a few time delays after switching off the cathodic polarisation. The results demonstrate that reflectivity measurements are a suitable non-invasive in situ diagnostics tool for the assessment of the efficiency of ox…
Near-infrared spatial solitons in heavy metal oxide A glasses
We demonstrate two-dimensional spatial solitons excited by near-infrared picosecond pulses in Kerr-like heavy metal oxide glasses with a nonlinearity one order of magnitude larger than in fused silica. Solitons were obtained at 820 nm owing to the presence of multiphoton absorption, which prevented catastrophic collapse. © 2007 Optical Society of America.
Surface enhanced Raman scattering of silver sensitized cobalt nanoparticles in metal–dielectric nanocomposites
We report the preparation of a new type of nanocomposite containing cobalt and silver nanoparticles organized in parallel layers with a well controlled separation. This arrangement allows the observation of an enhanced low-frequency Raman signal at the vibration frequency of cobalt nanoparticles excited through the surface plasmons of silver nanoparticles. Numerical simulations of the electric field confirm the emergence of hot spots when the separation between silver and cobalt nanoparticles is small enough. © IOP Publishing Ltd.
Acousto-plasmonic coupling in engineered metal nanocomposites
This work shows the production of self-assembled elongated nano-objects embedded in an oxide host oriented perpendicular to the substrate and their acousto-plasmonic dynamics. Electromagnetic “hot spots” are created that activate anomalous Raman vibrational modes.
2D+1 spatial solitons in heavy metal oxide glass
Two-dimensional self-confinement of near-infrared picosecond pulsed beams is demonstrated in a novel heavy metal-oxide glass, three-photon absorption being the stabilization mechanism to prevent catastrophic collapse.