An Ultra-Compact Broadband Polarizing Beam Splitter Utilizing Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide

Polarizing beam splitter has rather significant applications in polarization diversity circuits and polarization multiplexing systems.In this paper,we present an asymmetric polarizing beam splitter utilizing hybrid plasmonic waveguide.The special hybrid structure with a hybrid waveguide and a dielectric waveguide can limit the energy of TE and TM modes to a different layer.Therefore,we can achieve beam splitting by adjusting the corresponding parameters of the two waveguides.First,we studied the influences of different structure parameters on the real part of the effective mode refractive index of the two waveguides,and obtained a set of parameters that satisfy the condition of strong coupling of TM mode and weak coupling of TE mode.Then,the performance of our proposed polarizing beam splitter is evaluated numerically.The length of the coupling section is only 4.1μm,and the propagation loss of TM and TE modes is 0.0025 d B/μm and 0.0031 d B/μm respectively.Additionally,the extinction ratios of TM and TE modes are 10.62 d B and 12.55 d B,respectively.Particularly,the proposed device has excellent wavelength insensitivity.Over the entire C-band,the fluctuation of the whole normalized output power is less than 0.03.In short,our proposed asymmetric polarizing beam splitter features ultra-compactness,low propagation loss,and broad bandwidth,which would provide promising applications in polarization multiplexing system and polarization diversity circuits relevant to optical interconnection.

Plasmonic hybridization properties in polyenes octatetraene molecules based on theoretical computation

Relationship of plasmonic properties of multiple clusters to molecular interactions and properties of a single cluster or molecule have become increasingly important due to the continuous emergence of molecular and cluster devices or systems.A hybrid phenomenon similar to plasmonic nanoparticle hybridization exists between two molecules with plasmon excitation modes.We use linear-response time-dependent density functional theory,real-time propagation time-dependent density functional theory,the plasmonicity index,and transition contribution maps(TCMs)to identify the plasmon excitation modes for the linear polyenes octatetraene with–OH and–NH_(2)groups and analyze the hybridization characteristics using charge transitions.The results show that molecular plasmon hybridization exists when the two molecules are coupled.The TCM analysis shows that the plasmon modes and hybridization result from collective and single-particle excitation.The plasmon mode is stronger,and the individual properties of the molecules are maintained after coupling when there is extra charge depose in the molecules because the electrons are moving in the molecules.This study provides new insights into the molecular plasmon hybridization of coupled molecules.

A low-threshold nanolaser based on hybrid plasmonic waveguides at the deep subwavelength scale

A novel nanolaser structure based on a hybrid plasmonic waveguide is proposed and investigated. The coupling between the metal nanowire and the high-index semiconductor nanowire with optical gain leads to a strong field enhancement in the air gap region and low propagation loss, which enables the realization of lasing at the deep subwavelength scale.By optimizing the geometric parameters of the structure, a minimal lasing threshold is achieved while maintaining the capacity of ultra-deep subwavelength mode confinement. Compared with the previous coupled nanowire pair based hybrid plasmonic structure, a lower threshold can be obtained with the same geometric parameters. The proposed nanolaser can be integrated into a miniature chip as a nanoscale light source and has the potential to be widely used in optical communication and optical sensing technology.

Hybrid plasmon waveguides with metamaterial substrate and dielectric substrate:A contrastive study

Hybrid plasmon waveguides, respectively, with metamaterial substrate and dielectric substrate are investigated and analyzed contrastively with a numerical finite element method. Basic properties, including propagation length Lp, effective mode area Aeff, and energy distribution, are obtained and compared with waveguide geometric parameters at 1.55 gin. For the waveguide with metamaterial substrate, propagation length Lp increases to several tens of microns and effective mode area Aeff is reduced by more than 3 times. Moreover, the near field region is expanded, leading to potential applications in nanophotonics. Therefore, it could be very helpful for improving the integration density in optical chips and developing functional components on a nanometer scale for all optical integrated circuits.

Tunable coupling of a hybrid plasmonic waveguide consisting of two identical dielectric cylinders and a silver film

The propagation length of surface plasmon polaritons（SPPs） is intrinsically limited by the metallic ohmic loss that is enhanced by the strongly confined electromagnetic field. In this paper, we propose a new class of hybrid plasmonic waveguides（HPWs） that can support long-range SPP propagation while keeping subwavelength optical field confinement. It is shown that the coupling between the waveguides can be well tuned by simply varying the structural parameters. Compared with conventional HPWs, a larger propagation length as well as a better optical field confinement can be simultaneously realized. The proposed structure with better optical performance can be useful for future photonic device design and optical integration research.

Fano-like resonance characteristics of asymmetric Fe_2O_3@Au core/shell nanorice dimer

A geometrical configuration of Fe2O3/Au core-shell nanorice dimer is proposed and its multipolar plasmon Fano- like resonance characteristics are theoretically investigated by generalizing the plasmon hybridization model of individual nanorice to the bright and dark modes of the nanorice dimer. Under the irradiation of polarization light, the extinction spectra of the nanorice dimer are numerically simulated by using the finite element method （FEM）. Our studies show that the Fano-like resonance of the nanorice dimer results in an asymmetric line shape of the Fano dip in the extinction spectrum which can be controlled by varying the structure parameters of the nanorice dimer. Meanwhile, there is a giant field enhancement at the gap between the two nanorices on account of the plasmonic coupling in the nanorice dimer. The aforementioned two characteristics of the nanorice dimer are useful for plasmon-induced transparency and localized surface plasmon resonance sensors.

Characteristics and mechanism analysis of Fano resonances in Π-shaped gold nano-trimer

Fano interference of metallic nanostructure is an effective way to reduce the irradiation loss and improve the spectral resolution. A Π-shaped gold nano-trimer, which is composed of a gold nanorod and two gold nanorices, is presented to investigate the properties of Fano resonances in the visible spectrum by using the finite element method （FEM）. The theoretical analysis demonstrates that the Fano resonance of the Π-shaped gold nano-trimer is attributed to the near-field interaction between the bright mode of the nanorice pair and the dark quadrupole mode of the nanorod. Furthermore, by breaking the geometric symmetry of the nanostructure the line-shape spectrum with double Fano resonances of Π-shaped gold nano-trimer is obtained and exhibits structure-dependent and medium-dependent characteristics. It is a helpful strategy to design a plasmonic nanostructure for implementing multiple Fano resonances in practical applications.

Optical absorption tunability and local electric field distribution of gold-dielectric-silver three-layered cylindrical nanotube

The effects of inner nanowire radius,shell thickness,the dielectric functions of middle layer and surrounding medium on localized surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)of gold-dielectric-silver nanotube are studied based on the quasi-static approximation.Theoretical calculation results show that LSPR of gold-dielectric-silver nanotube and LSPR numbers can be well optimized by adjusting its geometrical parameters.The longer wavelength of |ω--> mode takes place a distinct red-shift with increasing the inner nanowire radius and the thickness of middle dielectric layer,while a blue-shift with increasing outer nanotube thickness.The physical mechanisms are explained based on the plasmon hybridization theory,induced charges and phase retardation.In addition,the effects of middle dielectric function and surrounding medium on LSPR,and the local electric field factor are also reported.Our study provides the potential applications of gold-dielectricsilver nanotube in biological tissues,sensor and related regions.

Light focusing in linear arranged symmetric nanoparticle trimer on metal film system

Benefiting from the induced image charge on film surface,the nanoparticle aggregating on metal exhibits interesting optical properties.In this work,a linear metal nanoparticle trimer on metal film system has been investigated to explore the novel optical phenomenon.Both the electric field and surface charge distributions demonstrate the light is focused on film greatly by the nanoparticles at two sides,which could be strongly modulated by the wavelength of incident light.And the influence of nanoparticle in middle on this light focusing ability has also been studied here,which is explained by the plasmon hybridization theory.Our finding about light focusing in nanoparticle aggregating on metal film not only enlarges the novel phenomenon of surface plasmon but also has great application prospect in the field of surface-enhanced spectra,surface catalysis,solar cells,water splitting,etc.

Plasmon hybridization engineering in self-organized anisotropic metasurfaces

The engineering of self-organized plasmonic metasurfaces is demonstrated using a maskless technique with defocused ion-beam sputtering and kinetically controlled deposition. The proposed reliable, cost-effective, and controllable approach enables large-area （order of square centimeter） sub-wavelength periodic patterning with close-packed gold nanostrips. A multi-level variant of the method leads to high-resolution manufacturing of vertically stacked nanostrip dimer arrays, without resorting to lithographic approaches. The design of these self-organized metasurfaces is optimized by employing plasmon hybridization methods. In particular, preliminary results on the so-called gap-plasmon configuration of the nanostrip dimers, implementing magnetic dipole resonance in the near-infrared range, are reported. This resonance offers a superior sensitivity and field enhancement, compared with the more conventional electric dipole resonance. The translational invariance of the nanostrip configuration leads to a high filling factor of the hot spots. These advanced features make the large-area metasurface based on gap-plasmon nanostrip dimers very attractive for surface-enhanced linear and nonlinear spectroscopy （e.g., surface-enhanced Raman scattering） and plasmon-enhanced photon harvesting in solar and photovoltaic cells.

Plasmon hybridization induced by quasi bound state in the continuum of graphene metasurfaces oriented for high-accuracy polarization-insensitive two-dimensional sensors

Plasmonics could provide compact and powerful solutions for manipulating light in deep-subwavelength dimensions,which is promising for a great range of nanophotonic technologies such as plasmonic rulers and sensors.However,the effective area of enhanced localized field induced by surface plasmon polaritons is typically restricted to the structural boundaries.In this work,we propose a method to generate high quality-factor extended electromagnetic fields via hybridizing the superradiant state and the quasi bound state in the continuum of graphene metasurfaces.The coupling interaction involved operates as a three-level system with multiple sharp resonances immune to the polarization,which holds great promise for developing nanodevices with high sensing capacity in two dimensions.

Polarization-Insensitive Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide Design for Evanescent Field Absorption Gas Sensor

We propose a polarization-insensitive design of a hybrid plasmonic waveguide(HPWG)optimized at the 3.392µm wavelength which corresponds to the absorption line of methane gas.The waveguide design is capable of providing high mode sensitivity(Smode)and evanescent field ratio(EFR)for both transverse electric(TE)and transverse magnetic(TM)hybrid modes.The modal analysis of the waveguide is performed via 2-dimension(2D)and 3-dimension(3D)finite element methods(FEMs).At optimized waveguide parameters,Smode and EFR of 0.94 and 0.704,can be obtained for the TE hybrid mode,respectively,whereas the TM hybrid mode can offer Smode and EFR of 0.86 and 0.67,respectively.The TE and TM hybrid modes power dissipation of~3 dB can be obtained for a 20-µm-long hybrid plasmonic waveguide at the 60%gas concentration.We believe that the highly sensitive waveguide scheme proposed in this work overcomes the limitation of the polarization controlled light and can be utilized in gas sensing applications.

Nonlinear hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide for second-harmonic generation

A nonlinear hybrid plasmonic slot waveguide composed of periodically poled lithium niobate(PPLN) and two separated silver films is investigated. The e?ective refractive index, propagation length, and energy confinement of the hybrid anti-symmetric mode in this waveguide are calculated using the structure parameters at the fundamental wavelength of λ = 1550 nm and its second harmonic(SH) λ = 775 nm. Through the above indices, coupling e?ciency(maximum SH conversion e?ciency during propagation) and peak position(propagation location of the conversion e?ciency) of SH generation are analyzed. Finally, higher conversion e?ciency can be achieved at a shorter propagation distance by changing the waveguide into a tapered structure.

Energy intensity analysis of modes in hybrid plasmonic waveguide

A hybrid plasmonic waveguide containing silicon core, silver cap and ultra-thin sandwiched SiO2 layer is studied. By analyzing the mode distribution patterns and the curves of mode effective index, we show how the plasmonic mode around the metal surface is coupled with the fundamental mode in the silicon core to form a squeezed hybrid mode. The ability of the hybrid plasmonic waveguide in energy confinement is also discussed quantitatively.

Monitoring transient nanoparticle interactions with liposome-confined plasmonic transducers

The encapsulation of individual pairs of plasmonic nanoparticles(NPs)in liposomes is introduced as a new strategy for utilizing plasmon coupling to monitor interactions between co-confined NPs in a nanoconfinement that ensures high local NP concentrations.We apply the approach to monitor transient binding contacts between noncovalently tethered 55 nm diameter gold NPs,which were functionalized with cytosine(C)-rich DNAs,in acidic and mildly basic buffer conditions.At pH=8,a rich spectral dynamics indicates DNA-mediated transient binding and unbinding of co-confined NPs due to weak attractive interparticle interactions.A decrease in pH from 8 to 4 is observed to favor the associated state for some co-confined NPs,presumably due to a stabilization of the bound dimer configuration through noncanonical C-C^(+)bonds between the DNA-functionalized NPs.Plasmonic nanoemitters whose spectral response switches in response to chemical cues(in this work pH)represent optical transducers with a rich application space in chemical sensing,cell analysis and nanophotonics.

Plasmonic Cu_(27)S_(24)nanocages for novel solar photothermal nanoink and nanofilm

Copper sulfide(Cu_(x)S)as a plasmonic solar photothermal semiconductor material that expands the light collection range by altering localized surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)to the near-to mid-infrared(IR)spectral region.The versatile synthesis strategies of Cu_(x)S nanostructure offer its variability of morphology and provide additional freedom in tuning the optical property.Particularly,nanocage(or nanoshell)has hybridized plasmon resonances as a result of super-positioned nanosphere and nanocavity,which extends its receiving range of solar spectrum and increases light-to-heat conversion rate.Here,we offer novel“nanoink”and“nanofilm”developed from colloidal Cu_(27)S_(24)nanocages with excellent solar photothermal response.Via combining experimental measurement and theoretical calculation,we estimated the optical properties of covellite Cu_(27)S_(24).And based on obtained dielectric functions,we then calculated its solar photothermal performance,which was further validated by our experimental measurement.The simulation results showed that hollow Cu_(27)S_(24)nanocages have excellent solar photothermal performance,and exhibit much higher solar photothermal conversion efficiency than solid Cu_(27)S_(24)nanospheres.