Search results for "plasmon"
showing 10 items of 614 documents
Nondiffracting Bessel plasmons.
2011
We report on the existence of nondiffracting Bessel surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), advancing at either superluminal or subluminal phase velocities. These wave fields feature deep subwavelength FWHM, but are supported by high-order homogeneous SPPs of a metal/dielectric (MD) superlattice. The beam axis can be relocated to any MD interface, by interfering multiple converging SPPs with controlled phase matching. Dissipative effects in metals lead to a diffraction-free regime that is limited by the energy attenuation length. However, the ultra-localization of the diffracted wave field might still be maintained by more than one order of magnitude. This research was funded by the Spanish Mini…
Molecular coupling of light with plasmonic waveguides.
2007
We use molecules to couple light into and out of microscale plasmonic waveguides. Energy transfer, mediated by surface plasmons, from donor molecules to acceptor molecules over ten micrometer distances is demonstrated. Also surface plasmon coupled emission from the donor molecules is observed at similar distances away from the excitation spot. The lithographic fabrication method we use for positioning the dye molecules allows scaling to nanometer dimensions. The use of molecules as couplers between far-field and near-field light offers the advantages that no special excitation geometry is needed, any light source can be used to excite plasmons and the excitation can be localized below the d…
Subwavelength beams with polarization singularities in plasmonic metamaterials
2014
We investigated the diffraction behavior of plasmonic Bessel beams propagating in metal-dielectric stratified materials and wire media. Our results reveal various regimes in which polarization singularities are selectively maintained. This polarization-pass effect can be controlled by appropriately setting the filling factor of the metallic inclusions and its internal periodic distribution. These results may have implications in the development of devices at the nanoscale level for manipulation of polarization and angular momentum of cylindrical vector beams. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the project TEC2011-29120-C05-01.
Diffraction-free propagation of subwavelength light beams in layered media
2010
Self-collimation of tightly localized laser beams demonstrated in periodic media relies on a perfect-matched rephasing of the Fourier constituents of the wavefield induced by a plane isofrequency curve. An alternate way paved for the achievement of such a phase matching condition developed a suitable spatial filtering in order to select those frequencies experiencing the same phase velocity projected over a given orientation. In principle this procedure is valid for complex structured metamaterials. However, a great majority of studies have focused on free-space propagation leading to the well-known Bessel beams. This paper is devoted to the analysis of this sort of nondiffracting beams tra…
Diffraction-managed superlensing using metallodielectric heterostructures
2012
We show that subwavelength diffracted wave fields may be managed inside multilayered plasmonic devices to achieve ultra-resolving lensing. For that purpose we first transform both homogeneous waves and a broad band of evanescent waves into propagating Bloch modes by means of a metal/dielectric (MD) superlattice. Beam spreading is subsequently compensated by means of negative refraction in a plasmon-induced anisotropic effective-medium that is cemented behind. A precise design of the superlens doublet may lead to nearly aberration-free images with subwavelength resolution in spite of using optical paths longer than a wavelength. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and…
Excitation of a one-dimensional evanescent wave by conical edge diffraction of surface plasmon
2011
International audience; The experimental observation of a one-dimensional evanescent wave supported by a 90◦ metal edge is reported. Through a measurement of in-plane momenta, we clearly demonstrate the dimensional character of this surface wave and show that it is non-radiative in the superstrate. Excitation conditions, lateral extension and polarization properties of this wave are discussed. Finally, we explore the effect of the surrounding dielectric medium and demonstrate that a single edge can sustain distinct excitations.
Surface plasmon assisted thermal coupling of multiple photon energies
2006
A novel optical effect can be observed in a thin gold foil due to the excitation of surface plasmons which permits a form of all-optical modulation at low pulse rates. Modulated excitation of surface plasmons by infrared photons is shown to couple to several beams at visible-photon energies. The coupling is manifested by the observation of the visible photons being pulsed by the action of the infrared pulses, and by the far field diffraction of the visible beams into concentric rings. When each visible beam also excites surface plasmons, then a quadratic dependence of the visible photon power upon the infrared incident power is measured. The decay of surface plasmons is implicated as the pr…
Determinant role of the edges in defining surface plasmon propagation in stripe waveguides and tapered concentrators
2012
International audience; In this paper, we experimentally show the effect of waveguide discontinuity on the propagation of the surface plasmon in metal stripes and tapered terminations. Dual-plane leakage microscopy and near-field microscopy were performed on Au stripes with varied widths to imag29e the surface plasmon intensity distribution in real and reciprocal spaces. We unambiguously demonstrate that edge diffraction is the limiting process determining the cutoff conditions of the surface plasmon mode. Finally, we determine the optimal tapered geometry leading to the highest transmission.
Electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide and its in situ spectroelectrochemical characterization
2012
The electrochemical properties of self-assembled films of graphene oxide (GO) on mercaptoethylamine (MEA) modified rough Au-surfaces were studied. The film deposition process on MEA primed gold was followed by surface plasmon resonance measurements and the film morphology on 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane primed Si(100)-surface was studied by atomic force microscopy. The deposited few layer thick GO films on gold were electrochemically reduced by cyclic voltammetry simultaneously as the structural changes in the film were recorded by in situ vibrational spectroscopies. In situ surface enhanced infrared spectroscopy results indicate that the effect of the applied potential on the GO structure …
Molecular interaction of artemisinin with translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) of Plasmodium falciparum
2012
Malaria causes millions of death cases per year. Since Plasmodium falciparum rapidly develops drug resistance, it is of high importance to investigate potential drug targets which may lead to novel rational therapy approaches. Here we report on the interaction of translationally controlled tumor protein of P. falciparum (PfTCTP) with the anti-malarial drug artemisinin. Furthermore, we investigated the crystal structure of PfTCTP. Using mass spectrometry, bioinformatic approaches and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy, we identified novel binding sites of artemisinin which are in direct neighborhood to amino acids 19-46, 108-134 and 140-163. The regions covered by these residues are know…