ADVANCED OPTICAL ANTENNAS: SWITCHABLE, SPASING AND GAIN-ASSISTED

目的由于衍射，传统的透镜将光聚焦到不小于大约一半波长的光斑。光学天线可以克服这一限制，跨越光的波长和纳米结构的尺寸之间的不匹配。PI的目标是展示先进的光学天线，在这个不断发展的领域教育研究生和本科生，并将结果传播给更广泛的社区。智力价值PI建议开发具有三个重要新功能的光学天线。1)。PI建议演示可以进行光学开关的光学天线。2)。PI建议展示基于集成等离子体准直器的光学天线的表面等离子激元激光器。3)。PI建议演示从吸附到与增益介质集成的光学天线的分子的表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)。PI预计，由于增益抵消了金属损耗，SERS光谱将显著增强。宽带影响存在一种趋势，即集成多个光子/等离子体结构的芯片将作为一个系统发挥作用。拟议的工作将通过为等离子体设备引入新的能力来促进这一目标。该项目将教育和推广与研究结合在一起。PI将把项目的结果纳入一门光学课程。PI将培养本科生和研究生。因此，该项目不仅将创造科学，还将创造未来进步所需的人类基础设施。最后，公安局和他的团队将在当地科学博物馆的外展活动中向公众演示。

ObjectiveDue to diffraction, conventional lenses focus light to spots no smaller than roughly half the wavelength. Optical antennas can overcome this limit, spanning the mismatch between the wavelength of light and the dimensions of nanostructures. The PI's goals are to demonstrate advanced optical antennas, to educate graduate and undergraduate students in this growing field, and to disseminate the results to the wider community.Intellectual MeritThe PI proposes to develop optical antennas with three important new capabilities. 1). The PI proposes to demonstrate optical antennas that can be optically switched. 2). The PI proposes to demonstrate surface plasmon lasers based on optical antennas integrated with plasmonic collimators. 3). The PI proposes to demonstrate surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from molecules adsorbed to optical antennas that are integrated with a gain medium. The PI anticipates that significantly stronger SERS spectra will result due to the gain counterbalancing metal loss.Broader ImpactThere exists a move to chips that integrate multiple photonic/plasmonic structures to function as a system. The proposed work will contribute to this goal by introducing new capabilities to plasmonic devices. The project integrates education and outreach with research. The PI will incorporate results from the program into an optics course. The PI will train undergraduate and graduate students. The project will therefore create not only the science, but also the human infrastructure required for future advances. Lastly, demonstrations to the public by the PI and his team will be made at outreach events at local science museums.