Plasmonic interactions between a perforated gold film and a thin gold film

Based on the finite difference time domain method, we investigated theoretically the optical properties and the plasmonic interactions between a gold film perforated with periodic sub-wavelength holes and a thin gold film. We showed that the plasmon resonant energies and intensities depend strongly on the thicknesses of the two films and the lattice constant. Based on the distributions of normal electric field component Ez, tangential electric field component Ey and total energy, we showed that the optical transmission is due to the collaboration of the localized waveguide resonance, the surface plasmon resonance and the coupling of the fiat-surface plasmon of the two layers.

Numerical analysis of end-fire coupling of surface plasmon polaritons in a metal-insulator-metal waveguide using a simple photoplastic connector

We propose a design for efficient end-fire coupling of surface plasmon polaritons in a metal-insulator-metal(MIM) waveguide with an optical fiber as part of a simple photoplastic connector. The design was analyzed and optimized using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. The calculated excitation efficiency coefficient of the waveguide is 83.7%(-0.77 dB) at a wavelength of 405 nm. This design enables simple connection of an optical fiber to a MIM waveguide and highly efficient local excitation of the waveguide.Moreover, the length of the metallic elements of the waveguide, and thus the dissipative losses, can be reduced.The proposed design may be useful in plasmonic-type waveguide applications such as near-field investigation of live cells and other objects with super-resolution.

Coupled quantum molecular cavity optomechanics with surface plasmon enhancement

Cavity optomechanics is applied to study the coupling behavior of interacting molecules in surface plasmon systems driven by two-color laser beams. Different from the traditional force–distance measurement, due to a resonant frequency shift or a peak splitting on the probe spectrum, we have proposed a convenient method to measure the van der Waals force strength and interaction energy via nonlinear spectroscopy. The minimum force value can reach approximately 10^(-15) N, which is 3 to 4 orders of magnitude smaller than the widely applied atomic force microscope(AFM). It is also shown that two adjacent molecules with similar chemical structures and nearly equal vibrational frequencies can be easily distinguished by the splitting of the transparency peak. Based on this coupled optomechanical system, we also conceptually design a tunable optical switch by van der Waals interaction. Our results will provide new approaches for understanding the complex and dynamic interactions inmolecule–plasmon systems.

Simultaneous monitoring of the fluorescence and refractive index by surface plasmon coupled emission: A proof-of-concept study

Simultaneous acquisition of fluorescence property and refractive index using a single surface plasmon coupled emission(SPCE)measurement has been achieved,thus achieving synchronicity in real time.The SPCE sensor was employed for monitoring the adsorption of volatile organic compounds(VOCs)by dyeencapsulated metal-organic frameworks(Dye@MOFs).Refractive index can reveal surface molecular adsorption and the fluorescence with information on refractive index can provide a comprehensive analysis of the adsorption events of VOCs on the interface.Meantime,the signal intensity can be amplified by combining the responses caused by changes in refractive index and the fluorescence property in parallel.This all-in-one method opens up a route to monitoring multiple processes simultaneously occurring on the interface.

Enhanced modulation of magnetic field on surface plasmon coupled emission(SPCE) by magnetic nanoparticles

The obvious enhancement effect of magnetic nanoparticles(MNPs) introduced in Cr/Co/Cr/Au substrate on the pulsed magnetic field-modulated surface plasmon coupled emission(SPCE) was investigated,and the observed enhancement factor was 4 comparing with the magnetic field modulated SPCE without MNPs.This is the new observation for the magnetic field modulated SPCE,and this method was designed as a biosensor,which to our knowledge,is the first application of magnetic field-modulated SPCE in biosensing and detection field.This strategy is a universal approach to increase the fluorescence signal and helps to build the new SPCE based stimulus-response system.

Plasmon enhancement for Vernier coupled single-mode lasing from ZnO/Pt hybrid microcavities

It is essential to develop a single mode operation and improve the performance of lasing in order to ensure practical applicability of microlasers and nanolasers. In this paper, two hexagonal microteeth with varied nanoscaled air-gaps of a ZnO microcomb are used to construct coupled whispering-gallery cavities. This is done to achieve a stable single mode lasing based on Vernier effect without requiring any complicated or sophisticated manipulation to achieve positioning with nanoscale precision. Optical gain and the corresponding ultraviolet lasing performance were improved greatly through coupling with localized surface plasmons of Pt nanoparticles. The ZnO/Pt hybrid microcavities achieved a seven-fold enhancement of intensity of single mode lasing with higher side- mode suppression ratio and lower threshold. The mechanism that led to this enhancement has been described in detail.

Significantly enhanced transmission achieved with double-layered metallic aperture arrays with sub-skin-depth Ag film

We present both theoretical and experimental investigation on significantly enhanced transmission through （Ag/Au） double-layered metallic aperture arrays with sub-skin-depth Ag film due to the coupling role of a surface plasmon polariton at the Ag/Au interface by evanescent waves. The results indicate that the enhanced transmittance is highly dependent on the Ag film thickness. When the Ag film thickness increases, the peak transmit- tance firstly increases and then decreases. Moreover, other metal material properties are also discussed. The highest peak transmittance is obtained when the Ag film thickness is 4 nm. The finite-difference time-domain simulations agree well with the experimental results. This finding provides an effective way to control the enhanced transmis- sion for double-layered metallic aperture arrays, which has potential applications in designing a high-performance plasmonic thermal emitter.