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Tailoring spatiotemporal light confinement in single plasmonic nanoantennas
Tobias Hanke1, Julijan Cesar, Vanessa Knittel
1Department of Physics and Center for Applied Photonics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany.
Nano Letters
|January 25, 2012
Summary
Designing ultrafast plasmonic nanoantennas is now clearer. Rod-type nanoantennas show strong third-harmonic emission due to long plasmon damping times, outperforming bulkier designs.
Area of Science:
- Nanophotonics
- Ultrafast Optics
- Plasmonics
Background:
- Plasmonic nanoantennas concentrate light to nanoscale dimensions.
- Their ultrafast (femtosecond) light manipulation capabilities are emerging.
- Understanding the microscopic dynamics governing their response is crucial for design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the femtosecond dynamics of plasmonic nanoantennas.
- To correlate antenna geometry with ultrafast plasmon response times.
- To identify key parameters for efficient nonlinear frequency conversion.
Main Methods:
- Frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) to measure plasmon response times.
- Third-harmonic generation (THG) imaging to monitor spatial plasmonic modes.
- Comparison of various nanoantenna geometries (rod, bow-tie, elliptical, disk).
Main Results:
- The ultrafast dynamics (few femtoseconds) are dominated by radiative damping.
- Long plasmon damping times correlate directly with high nonlinear frequency conversion efficiency.
- Rod-type nanoantennas, despite minimal volume, exhibit the strongest third-harmonic emission.
Conclusions:
- Radiative damping is the primary factor governing femtosecond plasmon dynamics in nanoantennas.
- Plasmon damping time is a key design parameter for efficient nonlinear optical processes.
- Simple rod nanoantennas offer superior performance for third-harmonic generation compared to complex geometries.
