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Determination of the Excitation and Coupling Rates Between Light Emitters and Surface Plasmon Polaritons
Published on: July 21, 2018
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Few-Cycle Surface Plasmon Polaritons
Kazma Komatsu1, Zsuzsanna Pápa2,3, Thomas Jauk1
1Institute of Experimental Physics, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria.
Nano Letters
|February 12, 2024
Summary
Researchers created the shortest surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wavepackets using a tapered plasmonic waveguide. This breakthrough enables precise control over light confinement for advanced nanophotonics.
Area of Science:
- Nanophotonics and Plasmonics
- Ultrafast Optics
Background:
- Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) confine light to nanometer scales, enabling electric field enhancement and nanophotonic circuitry.
- Temporal confinement is crucial for maximizing field strengths and achieving ultrafast switching in plasmonic devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate few-cycle SPPs with high bandwidth and efficient coupling.
- To achieve the shortest reported SPP wavepackets for advanced optical applications.
- To spatiotemporally image and analyze the propagation dynamics of these ultrashort SPP wavepackets.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a tapered plasmonic waveguide with an optimized grating structure.
- Generation of few-cycle SPPs with >70 THz bandwidth and >50% light-to-plasmon coupling efficiency.
- Time-resolved photoelectron microscopy with sub-10 fs temporal resolution for spatiotemporal imaging.
Main Results:
- Observation of the shortest reported SPP wavepackets.
- Full spatiotemporal imaging of co- and counter-propagating few-cycle SPP wavepackets.
- Tracking of laser-plasmon phase evolution, demonstrating control via coupling conditions.
Conclusions:
- The developed tapered plasmonic waveguide effectively supports and enables the observation of ultrashort SPP wavepackets.
- Spatiotemporal imaging provides unprecedented insight into SPP dynamics and phase evolution.
- This work paves the way for novel nanophotonic devices with enhanced temporal control over light.
