Random nano-plasmonics: fundamentals and applications

光波以许多奇妙的方式与物质相互作用。该研究项目旨在研究如何理解光与尺寸小于人类头发厚度的金属和非金属颗粒的相互作用，以及控制这些相互作用的方法。这是一个高度跨学科的研究领域，涉及来自世界各地的物理学、电气工程、化学和生物化学的同事。简而言之，通过控制光的颜色（波长），它的偏振状态，以及光波对含有粒子的介质的穿透深度，将使用标准光纤作为支撑材料和探针进行两种截然不同的研究。首先，通过使用被称为光纤光栅的设备，可以对粒子的特性进行非常精确的测量。例如，通过改变沉积在给定表面上的粒子的形状、大小、材料和覆盖密度，得到的“有效介质”具有广泛不同的光学特性（反射率、吸收、散射）。第二种需要进行的研究是因为对这些基本特性有了更好的了解，将有助于研究由这种粒子涂层在光纤和波导上组成的新型光学器件，这些器件在传感和通信领域有许多应用。例如，由颗粒涂层光纤制成的设备非常适合于在高容量传输系统中处理信息，以及在光纤的直接环境中感知物质的特性。在后一种情况下，涂层光纤可以发展成新的微型探针，用于检测小而难以到达的地方的化学物质，例如人体内部或地下和海洋表面。因此，光纤器件已成为生物医学、环境、自然资源开发等领域的主流器件。这些活动对于作为最终用户和作为可出口技术的开发国的加拿大都具有重要意义。

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.