Coupling mediated coherent control of localized plasmonic resonances

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A direct control of the light matter interaction and therefore the modification of the light propagation is a major challenge in optical research. With our project we want to explore the possibilities of coherently controlled light-matter interaction in plasmonic metamaterials with the goal of modifying the light propagation and nonlinear light emission. In comparison to previous and on-going research in the field of coherent control of light fields our proposal focuses on the strong near-field interaction of plasmonic meta-atoms. In particular we are interested in utilizing strong near-field coupling effects to coherently control an effect called plasmon induced transparency. Similar to atomic physics where the electromagnetic induced transparency can lead to an enhancement of the nonlinear properties due to large dispersion we expect that the plasmon induced transparency in plasmonic meta-atoms should lead to similar effects like light storage and strong field enhancement. However, the short life times and the high energy dissipation in the plasmonic systems together with extremely small structures sizes are tremendous challenges in a practical realization. Furthermore, it is unclear if the near-field coupling effects are strong enough to lead to a complete control of the optical properties. Meeting these challenges will yield a fundamental and more complete understanding of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of collective excitations in strongly coupled metallic meta-atoms and metamaterials. The answers of these problems can potentially help to modify or improve the nonlinear response of active photonic devices with metal-based nanostructures in the future.