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Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Measurement of Scattering Nonlinearities from a Single Plasmonic Nanoparticle
Published on: January 3, 2016
Beyond Bounds on Light Scattering with Complex Frequency Excitations
Seunghwi Kim1, Sergey Lepeshov2, Alex Krasnok1,3
1Photonics Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York, New York, New York 10031, USA.
Abstract:
Light scattering is one of the most established wave phenomena in optics, lying at the heart of light-matter interactions and of crucial importance for nanophotonic applications. Passivity, causality, and energy conservation imply strict bounds on the degree of control over scattering from small particles, with implications on the performance of many optical devices. Here, we demonstrate that these bounds can be surpassed by considering excitations at complex frequencies, yielding extreme scattering responses as tailored nanoparticles reach a quasi-steady-state regime. These mechanisms can be used to engineer light scattering of nanostructures beyond conventional limits for noninvasive sensing, imaging, and nanoscale light manipulation.
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