EAGER: A new coupling scheme for surface plasmon polaritons using structured illumination

EAGER：使用结构照明的表面等离子体激元的新耦合方案

• 批准号: 1347251
• 负责人: Federico Capasso
• 金额: $ 10.49万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-15 至 2014-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1347251&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; new; coupling; scheme; surface

The objective of this research is to demonstrate a new coupling technique to excite propagating surface plasmons on an unstructured metallic surface by illuminating it with structured light beams. The experimental approach is to focus light from a Titanium Sapphire laser with a cylindrical lens into a narrow diffraction limited stripe on a gold film and to image the surface plasmons by advanced near field scanning optical microscopy techniques. The theoretical approach is to use techniques such as Finite Difference Time Domain simulations for visualizing the propagating surface plasmons.The intellectual merit of this proposal is that if the proposed effect is demonstrated it will have a major impact on plasmonics. The imaging of two plane-like plasmon waves at an angle would confirm the striking resemblance between this phenomenon and Cherenkov radiation. It will lead to fundamental new understanding on the coupling of light to metallic surfaces and would introduce a completely new approach to excite them, without needing couplers such as gratings or prisms.The broader impacts of this research stem from its technological, societal and educational importance. It is important because observation of this effect could lead to new optical interconnects on a chip by introducing a simpler and easier/cheaper method. This discovery will thus positively influence on-chip optical communications, leading to significant societal impacts. The findings coming out of this project, by contributing to new basic understanding of surface plasmons and their applications, will definitely also influence the teaching of nanophotonics, including textbooks.

本研究的目的是展示一种新的耦合技术，激发传播的表面等离子体在非结构化的金属表面上照射它与结构化的光束。实验方法是将来自钛蓝宝石激光器的光与圆柱形透镜聚焦成金膜上的窄衍射限制条纹，并通过先进的近场扫描光学显微镜技术对表面等离子体进行成像。理论方法是使用诸如时域有限差分模拟的技术来可视化传播的表面等离子体。这个提议的智力价值在于，如果所提出的效应被证明，它将对等离子体产生重大影响。两个成一定角度的类平面等离子体波的成像将证实这种现象与切伦科夫辐射之间的惊人相似之处。它将导致对光与金属表面耦合的根本性新理解，并将引入一种全新的方法来激发它们，而不需要光栅或棱镜等耦合器。这项研究的更广泛影响源于其技术，社会和教育重要性。这是很重要的，因为观察这种效应可以通过引入更简单，更容易/更便宜的方法在芯片上产生新的光学互连。因此，这一发现将对片上光通信产生积极影响，从而产生重大的社会影响。该项目的发现，通过促进对表面等离子体及其应用的新的基本理解，肯定也会影响纳米光子学的教学，包括教科书。