Random nano-plasmonics: fundamentals and applications

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Light waves interact with matter in many wonderful ways. This program of research aims at studying how to understand light interactions with metallic and non-metallic particles that have dimensions smaller than the thickness of a human hair, and of ways to control these interactions. This is a highly interdisciplinary field of research that involves colleagues from around the world in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, and Biochemistry. In short, by controlling the colour (wavelength) of light, its polarization state, and the penetration depth of the light waves into the medium that contains the particles, two very different kinds of studies will be carried out using standard optical fibers both as support material and as probes. First, by using devices known as optical fiber gratings, very accurate measurements of the properties of the particles can be made. For instance, by changing the shape, size, material, and coverage density of the particles deposited on a given surface the resulting "effective medium" has widely different optical properties (reflectivity, absorption, scattering). The second kind of study to be carried out arises because a better understanding of these fundamental properties will allow research into novel optical devices made up of such particle coatings on optical fibers and waveguides, with many applications in sensing and communications. For instance, devices made from particle-coated optical fibers are ideally suited for processing information in high capacity transmission systems and for sensing the properties of matter in the immediate environment of the fiber. In the latter case, coated optical fibers can be developed into new miniature probes to detect chemicals in small, hard to reach places, such as inside the human body or far under the earth and ocean surfaces. For these reasons, optical fiber devices have become mainstream components in the biomedical, environmental, and natural resource development fields. These activities are of major importance for Canada, both as an end user and as a developer of exportable technologies.