We present the design for an absorbing metamaterial (MM) with near unity absorbance A(omega). Our structure consists of two MM resonators that couple separately to electric and magnetic fields so as to absorb all incident radiation within a single unit cell layer. We fabricate, characterize, and analyze a MM absorber with a slightly lower predicted A(omega) of 96%. Unlike conventional absorbers, our MM consists solely of metallic elements. The substrate can therefore be optimized for other parameters of interest. We experimentally demonstrate a peak A(omega) greater than 88% at 11.5 GHz.

Perfect metamaterial absorber.

Electronic circuits provide us with the ability to control the transport and storage of electrons. However, the performance of electronic circuits is now becoming rather limited when digital information needs to be sent from one point to another. Photonics offers an effective solution to this problem by implementing optical communication systems based on optical fibers and photonic circuits. Unfortunately, the micrometer-scale bulky components of photonics have limited the integration of these components into electronic chips, which are now measured in nanometers. Surface plasmon-based circuits, which merge electronics and photonics at the nanoscale, may offer a solution to this size-compatibility problem. Here we review the current status and future prospects of plasmonics in various applications including plasmonic chips, light generation, and nanolithography.

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Plasmonics: merging photonics and electronics at nanoscale dimensions.

Collective electronic excitations at metal surfaces are well known to play a key role in a wide spectrum of science, ranging from physics and materials science to biology. Here we focus on a theoretical description of the many-body dynamical electronic response of solids, which underlines the existence of various collective electronic excitations at metal surfaces, such as the conventional surface plasmon, multipole plasmons and the recently predicted acoustic surface plasmon. We also review existing calculations, experimental measurements and applications.

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Theory of surface plasmons and surface-plasmon polaritons

Quantum plasmonics is a rapidly growing field of research that involves the study of the quantum properties of light and its interaction with matter at the nanoscale Here, surface plasmons - electromagnetic excitations coupled to electron charge density waves on metal-dielectric interfaces or localized on metallic nanostructures - enable the confinement of light to scales far below that of conventional optics In this article we review recent progress in the experimental and theoretical investigation of the quantum properties of surface plasmons, their role in controlling light-matter interactions at the quantum level and potential applications Quantum plasmonics opens up a new frontier in the study of the fundamental physics of surface plasmons and the realization of quantum-controlled devices, including single-photon sources, transistors and ultra-compact circuitry at the nanoscale

Quantum Plasmonics

This review provides a perspective on the recent developments in the transmission of light through subwavelength apertures in metal films. The main focus is on the phenomenon of extraordinary optical transmission in periodic hole arrays, discovered over a decade ago. It is shown that surface electromagnetic modes play a key role in the emergence of the resonant transmission. These modes are also shown to be at the root of both the enhanced transmission and beaming of light found in single apertures surrounded by periodic corrugations. This review describes both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the subject. For clarity, the physical mechanisms operating in the different structures considered are analyzed within a common theoretical framework. Several applications based on the transmission properties of subwavelength apertures are also addressed.

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/47904/1/Light%20passing.pdf

Light passing through subwavelength apertures

In this work, we have experimentally and theoretically studied the angular distribution of power emitted from a radiation source embedded inside a photonic crystal. Our results show that it is possible to obtain highly directive radiation sources operating at the band edge of the photonic crystal. Half power beam widths as small as 6° have been obtained. Our results also show that the angular distribution of power strongly depends on the frequency and on the size of the photonic crystal.

/pdf/highly-directive-radiation-from-sources-embedded-inside-1xx8yvu6mb.pdf

Highly directive radiation from sources embedded inside photonic crystals

We report a theoretical and experimental demonstration of enhanced microwave transmission through subwavelength apertures in metallic structures with double-sided gratings. Three different types of aluminum gratings (sinusoidal, symmetric rectangular, and asymmetric rectangular shaped) are designed and analyzed. Our samples have a periodicity of 16mm, and a slit width of 2mm. Transmission measurements are taken in the 10–37.5GHz frequency spectrum, which corresponds to 8–30mm wavelength region. All three structures display significantly enhanced transmission around surface plasmon resonance frequencies. The experimental results agree well with finite-difference-time-domain based theoretical simulations. Asymmetric rectangular grating structure exhibits the best results with ∼50% transmission at 20.7mm, enhancement factor of ∼25, and ±4° angular divergence.

/pdf/enhanced-transmission-of-microwave-radiation-in-one-d165me6cmb.pdf

Enhanced transmission of microwave radiation in one-dimensional metallic gratings with subwavelength aperture

We experimentally investigated the influence of positional disorder on the photonic band gap, defect characteristics, and waveguiding in two-dimensional dielectric and metallic photonic crystals. Transmission measurements performed on the dielectric photonic crystals have shown a stop band even if a large amount of disorder was introduced to these structures. On the other hand, the photonic band gap of the metallic crystals was found to be very sensitive to disorder, while the metallicity gap was not affected significantly. We addressed how the transmission characteristics of a cavity were affected in the presence of weak disorder. Since the translational symmetry was broken by disorders, we measured different cavity frequencies when we generated defects at various locations. We also demonstrated the propagation of photons by hopping through coupled-cavity structures in both dielectric and metallic two-dimensional photonic crystals. Effects of weak disorder on guiding and bending of electromagnetic waves through the coupled-cavity waveguides were also investigated.

/pdf/photonic-band-gaps-defect-characteristics-and-waveguiding-in-1l5svxj84n.pdf

Photonic band gaps, defect characteristics, and waveguiding in two-dimensional disordered dielectric and metallic photonic crystals

We present a detailed study of the localized coupled-cavity modes in 2-D dielectric photonic crystals. The transmission, phase, and delay time characteristics of the various coupled-cavity structures are measured and calculated. We observed the eigenmode splitting, waveguiding through the coupled cavities, splitting of electromagnetic waves in waveguide ports, and switching effect in such structures. The corresponding field patterns and the transmission spectra are obtained from the finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulations. We also develop a theory based on the classical wave analog of the tight-binding (TB) approximation in solid state physics. Experimental results are in good agreement with the FDTD simulations and predictions of the TB approximation.

/pdf/investigation-of-localized-coupled-cavity-modes-in-two-2wkrfmviz9.pdf

Investigation of localized coupled-cavity modes in two-dimensional photonic bandgap structures

The development of material-processing techniques that can be used to generate optical diamond nanostructures containing a single-color center is an important problem in quantum science and technology. In this work, we present the combination of ion implantation and top-down diamond nanofabrication in two scenarios: diamond nanopillars and diamond nanowires. The first device consists of a 'shallow' implant ( 20nm) to generate nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers near the top surface of the diamond crystal prior to device fabrication. Individual NV centers are then mechanically isolated by etching a regular array of nanopillars in the diamond surface. Photon anti-bunching measurements indicate that a high yield (>10%) of the devices contain a single NV center. The second device demonstrates 'deep' ( 1µm) implantation of individual NV centers into diamond nanowires as a post-processing step. The high single-photon flux of the nanowire geometry, combined with the low background fluorescence of the ultrapure diamond, allowed us to observe sustained photon anti-bunching even at high pump powers.

/pdf/single-color-centers-implanted-in-diamond-nanostructures-1xdjz68spz.pdf

Irfan Bulu

Papers

Highly directive radiation from sources embedded inside photonic crystals

Enhanced transmission of microwave radiation in one-dimensional metallic gratings with subwavelength aperture

Photonic band gaps, defect characteristics, and waveguiding in two-dimensional disordered dielectric and metallic photonic crystals

Investigation of localized coupled-cavity modes in two-dimensional photonic bandgap structures

Single-color centers implanted in diamond nanostructures