Optical polarizers based on gold nanowires fabricated using colloidal gold nanoparticles

We demonstrate optical polarization devices, consisting of gold nanowires, which are based on the strong polarization dependence of the particle plasmon resonance of the gold nanowires and the resonance of the waveguided grating structures. Using a layer of indium tin oxide underneath the gold nanowires as the waveguide, we achieved tunable polarization band-pass and band-suppression filters in the transmission and reflection configuration with a bandwidth less than 20?nm at full width at half maximum (FWHM) in the visible spectral range. Then, using side-input geometry for multiplying the absorption by the particle plasmon resonance, we?achieved a strong band-suppression polarizer with an extinction ratio of up to?145. These polarization devices can be used directly in optical engineering, and potentially provide alternatives to conventional devices in some special applications. A simple solution-processible fabrication technique enables high quality and large area (>10 × 10?mm(2)) production of these?polarizers.     

Metallic photonic crystals based on solution-processible gold nanoparticles

We demonstrate the fabrication of metallic photonic crystals, in the form of a periodic array of gold nanowires on a waveguide, by spin-coating a colloidal gold suspension onto a photoresist mask and subsequent annealing. The photoresist mask with a period below 500 nm is manufactured by interference lithography on an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate, where the ITO layer has a thickness around 210 nm and acts as the waveguide. The width of the nanowires can be controlled from 100 to 300 nm by changing the duty cycle of the mask. During evaporation of solvent, the gold nanoparticles are drawn to the grooves of the grating with apparently complete dewetting off the photoresist for channels less than 2 microm in width, which therefore form nanowires after the annealing process. Strong coupling between the waveguide mode and the plasmon resonance of the nanowires, which is dependent on the polarization and incidence angle of the light wave, is demonstrated by optical extinction measurements. Continuity of the nanowires is confirmed by conductivity properties. Simplicity, high processing speed, and low cost are the main advantages of this method, which may have a plethora of applications in telecommunication, all-optical switching, sensors, and semiconductor devices.     

Direct writing of large-area plasmonic photonic crystals using single-shot interference ablation

We report direct writing of metallic photonic crystals (MPCs) through a single-shot exposure of a thin film of colloidal gold nanoparticles to the interference pattern of a single UV laser pulse before a subsequent annealing process. This is defined as interference ablation, where the colloidal gold nanoparticles illuminated by the bright interference fringes are removed instantly within a timescale of about 6 ns, which is actually the pulse length of the UV laser, whereas the gold nanoparticles located within the dark interference fringes remain on the substrate and form grating structures. This kind of ablation has been proven to have a high spatial resolution and thus enables successful fabrication of waveguided MPC structures with the optical response in the visible spectral range. The subsequent annealing process transforms the grating structures consisting of ligand-covered gold nanoparticles into plasmonic MPCs. The annealing temperature is optimized to a range from 250 to 300?°C to produce MPCs of gold nanowires with a period of 300 nm and an effective area of 5 mm in diameter. If the sample of the spin-coated gold nanoparticles is rotated by 90° after the first exposure, true two-dimensional plasmonic MPCs are produced through a second exposure to the interference pattern. Strong plasmonic resonance and its coupling with the photonic modes of the waveguided MPCs verifies the success of this new fabrication technique. This is the simplest and most efficient technique so far for the construction of large-area MPC devices, which enables true mass fabrication of plasmonic devices with high reproducibility and high success rate.     

Single-nanowire surface plasmon gratings

We demonstrate single-nanowire plasmonic gratings made by focused-ion-beam milling of single Au nanowires. At the optical communication band, a 290?nm diameter Au nanowire with grating length of 15.6?μm offers evident grating features with a transmission dip up to ～3.3?dB. The grating effects in typical Au nanowires with different grating parameters (e.g.?grating depth, width and length) are also investigated. Our results suggest a novel approach to one-dimensional plasmonic gratings with high compactness and flexibility, which may find applications in low-dimensional wavelength-selective plasmonic circuits and devices.     

LWIR亚波长铝/硒化锌光栅偏振器设计

为提高长波红外偏振成像系统中偏振器件性能,本文通过分析光栅材料及结构参数对光栅偏振性能的影响,设计并优化了一种双层材料构成的亚波长光栅。该光栅为矩形形貌,光栅区由铝与硒化锌构成,两种材料的厚度分别为0.6 μm和0.4 μm,光栅周期1 μm,占空比50%。利用严格耦合波理论分析并计算该结构光栅的衍射效率,7~15 μm波段的光以0~60°入射后其0级横磁模透射率达到87.54%以上,消光比超过47 dB。该光栅在10.6 μm的测试波长下,TM透射率高达90.80%且具有50 dB以上的消光比,相比槽深相同的单层铝光栅,偏振透过率明显提高。仿真结果显示,该光栅在整个宽长波红外波段具有良好的偏振性能。     

Spatially resolved plasmonically enhanced photocurrent from Au nanoparticles on a Si nanowire

Semiconducting nanowires have been demonstrated as promising light-harvesting units with enhanced absorption compared to bulk films of equivalent volume. However, for small diameter nanowires, the ultrahigh aspect ratio constrains the absorption to be polarization selective by responding primarily to the transverse magnetic (TM) light. While this effect is useful for polarization-sensitive optoelectronic devices, practical light-harvesting applications demand efficient light absorption in both TM and transverse electric (TE) light. In this study, we engineer the polarization sensitivity and the charge carrier generation in a 50 nm Si nanowire by decorating the surface with plasmonic Au nanoparticles. Using scanning photocurrent microscopy (SPCM) with a tunable wavelength laser, we spatially and spectrally resolve the local enhancement in the TE photocurrent resulting from the plasmonic near-field response of individual nanoparticles and the broad-band enhancement due to surface-enhanced absorption. These results provide guidance to the development and the optimization of nanowire-nanoparticle light-harvesting systems.     

单光纤光栅实现窄带全光纤反射器的分析

提出了一种由单个光纤光栅和一个光纤方向耦合器组成的新型全光纤反射器,推导出了当光栅为均匀 Bragg 光栅、器件任意端口输入时,任何一端口的输出解析式。分析表明器件具有法布里-珀罗腔干涉仪的特点,耦合器的耦合比系数类似于法布里-珀罗腔的反射率, 耦合比系数越大,输出光谱半高全宽度(FWHM)越窄, 消光比越好。当耦合比系数大于 0.8 时,FWHM 可以窄到0.02nm,消光比大于 0.9。如果光栅是“强”耦合,器件具有均匀分布的多通道梳状输出特性;光栅为“弱”耦合时,则能实现 FWHM 小于 0.02nm 的单频输出。器件只需单个光栅,克服了制作两个完全相同光栅的困难。     

Realization of integrated polarizer and color filters based on subwavelength metallic gratings using a hybrid numerical scheme

This study realizes integrated polarizer and RGB (red, green, and blue) color filters using single- and multiple-layered subwavelength metallic grating structures. A hybrid numerical scheme based on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis method and a genetic algorithm is used to determine the optimal values of the grating period, filling factor, and grating thickness of three different grating structures, namely, a single-layer grating, a double-layer grating, and a double-layer grating with a lateral shift. The optical performance of the various structures is evaluated and compared in terms of the transmission efficiency at the center wavelengths 700.0?nm, 546.1?nm, and 435.8?nm of red, green, and blue light, respectively, and the extinction ratio over the visible wavelength spectrum (380-780?nm). It is shown that the double-layer grating achieves a transmission efficiency of about 50% and an extinction ratio of around 60?dB. Thus, this grating structure provides a convenient and effective means of achieving the polarizing and filtering functions in LCD panels using a single device.     

Polarization-selective beam splitter based on a highly efficient simple binary diffraction grating

A polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on a giant-reflection to zero-order (GIRO) grating is presented. The GIRO grating is a simple binary diffraction grating with parameters chosen such that the excited optical modes in the grating interfere constructively and destructively at the respective interfaces. This interference results in high-zero-order reflection (>99%) with a high polarization-selective extinction ratio (+/-30 dB). The grating shows a low aspect ratio. The GIRO PBS is theoretically and experimentally shown to be an adequate PBS for use as an optical isolator in combination with a quarter-wave plate in a CO2-laser system.     

Polarizing color filter based on a subwavelength metal-dielectric grating

We propose a polarizing color filter based on a one-dimensional subwavelength metal-dielectric grating combining the functions of a polarizer and a color filter. The proposed device consists of three parts: a substrate, a dielectric grating, and a metal grating. The effects of the dielectric grating and the metal grating are investigated in detail by rigorous coupled-wave analysis. Performance is enhanced effectively by utilizing a dielectric grating of high equivalent refractive index. Typical optimized structural parameters are obtained, in which more than 72.6% broadband transmission with >21 dB polarization extinction ratio are simultaneously achieved for a tricolor filter. For transverse electric (TE) polarized light, its reflection efficiency is more than 71.8% in the broad passband light range, which can be recycled by rotating the TE polarization in part into transverse magnetic polarization and reimpinging on the designed device to increase the total energy efficiency. Numerical results show that peak transmission efficiency (PTE) is increased by at least 12.9% using recycled TE-polarized light.     

Tuning Plasmonic Enhancement of Single Nanocrystal Upconversion Luminescence by Varying Gold Nanorod Diameter

Plasmonic enhancement induced by metallic nanostructures is an effective strategy to improve the upconversion efficiency of lanthanide‐doped nanocrystals. It is demonstrated that plasmonic enhancement of the upconversion luminescence (UCL) of single NaYF₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺/Mn²⁺ nanocrystal can be tuned by tailoring scattering and absorption cross sections of gold nanorods, which is synthesized wet chemically. The assembly of the single gold nanorod and single upconversion nanocrystal is achieved by the atomic force microscope probe manipulation. By selecting two kinds of gold nanorods with similar longitudinal surface plasmon resonance wavelength but different diameters (27.3 and 46.7 nm), which extinction spectra are separately dominant by the absorption and scattering, the maximum UCL enhancement by a factor of 110 is achieved with the 46.7 nm‐diameter gold nanorod, while it is 19 for the nanorod with the diameter of 27.3 nm. Such strong enhancement with the larger gold nanorod is due to stronger scattering ability and greater extent of the near‐field enhancement. The enhanced UCL shows a strong dependence on the excitation polarization relative to the nanorod long axis. Time‐resolved measurements and finite‐difference time‐domain simulations unveil that both excitation and emission processes of UCL are accelerated by the nanorod plasmonic effect.     

Efficiency of a grazing-incidence off-plane grating in the soft-x-ray region

Efficiency measurements of a grazing-incidence diffraction grating in the off-plane mount were performed using polarized synchrotron radiation. The grating had 5000 grooves/mm, an effective blaze angle of 14 degrees, and was gold coated. The efficiencies in the two polarization orientations (TM and TE) were measured in the 1.5-5.0 nm wavelength range and were compared with the efficiencies calculated using the PCGrate-SX code. The TM and TE efficiencies differ, offering the possibility of performing unique science studies of astrophysical, solar, and laboratory sources by exploiting the polarization sensitivity of the off-plane grating.     

Integration of photonic and silver nanowire plasmonic waveguides

Future optical data transmission modules will require the integration of more than 10,000 x 10,000 input and output channels to increase data transmission rates and capacity. This level of integration, which greatly exceeds that of a conventional diffraction-limited photonic integrated circuit, will require the use of waveguides with a mode confinement below the diffraction limit, and also the integration of these waveguides with diffraction-limited components. We propose to integrate multiple silver nanowire plasmonic waveguides with polymer optical waveguides for the nanoscale confinement and guiding of light on a chip. In our device, the nanowires lay perpendicular to the polymer waveguide with one end inside the polymer. We theoretically predict and experimentally demonstrate coupling of light into multiple nanowires from the same waveguide, and also demonstrate control over the degree of coupling by changing the light polarization.     

亚波长径向偏振光栅的设计

针对现有电力光学电流传感中法拉第旋转角的非线性测量、解调模式的光强依赖性等问题,本文设计了一种环型亚波长偏振光栅,其光栅矢量径向分布,可将偏振光的偏振分布转化为光斑强度分布并与偏振面同步旋转。应用琼斯矩阵对其偏振特性进行分析,运用严格耦合波理论对光栅进行仿真分析与优化设计,并制备了辐射状的环型铝金属光栅。测试结果表明,光栅TM光的透过率大于80%、整体消光比大于100,可实现对光偏振态的直接检测,并具有线性测量范围大、测量结果不依赖于光的绝对强度等优点,可用于基于图像分析的偏振检测技术。     

Beam redirection and frequency filtering with transparent elastomeric diffractive elements

A new, to our knowledge, type of optical device capable of beam redirection and frequency filtering is described. It is based on a transparent elastomeric binary diffraction grating. When light is passed through the device the intensities of the diffraction orders can be modulated by compression of the elastomer in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the grating. Selective filtering of the component frequencies of two-component light (lambda = 543.5 nm and lambda = 632.8 nm) has been demonstrated. Experimental observations are in agreement with theoretical calculations quantifying the performance of the device.     

Tungsten wire grid polarizer for applications in the DUV spectral range

In this paper, we present a broadband wire grid polarizer with a spectral working range down to a wavelength of 193 nm. Tungsten is chosen as grating material because it provides a high extinction ratio and transmission compared with other common grating materials. The fabrication of the grating with 100 nm period was accomplished using a spatial frequency doubling approach based on ultrafast electron beam lithography and a sophisticated deposition technique. At a wavelength of 193 nm, a transmission of about 44% and an extinction ratio of 20 was measured.     

Extreme-ultraviolet efficiency measurements of freestanding transmission gratings

We report new, near-normal-incidence, transmission grating efficiency results at selected extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths between 4.5 and 30.5 nm for two transmission gratings, one with a period of 200 nm and the other with a period of 400 nm. These gratings consist of opaque gold bars separated by open spaces that have been produced by photolithography techniques commonly used to produce electronic components. The gold bars and the open spaces are nominally of the same width. Both gratings have a thickness of 470 nm. The transmission efficiency at the central, first, and, when possible, second order of diffraction was measured. In addition, guided-wave phenomena at nonnormal angles of incidence, as well as transmission differences depending on which side of the grating was illuminated, were investigated. The observed guided-wave effects allow one to selectively enhance the transmission of the grating at desired wavelengths, as is realized with a blazed reflection grating.     

Comparison of structural and photoluminescence properties of zinc oxide nanowires grown by vapor-solid and vapor-liquid-solid methods

Different kinds of ZnO nanowires were synthesized by vapor-solid and vapor-liquid-solid methods via a chemical vapor transport and condensation process. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence analyses. The control on the growth morphologies can be achieved by the source materials and by using a thin gold layer as a catalyst. 15-80 nm nanowires were obtained and XRD patterns show two different growth directions. High intensity green light from photoluminescence spectroscopy was observed which shows that the experimental results could be useful for light-emitting materials and other optoelectronic device applications.     

High sensitivity plasmonic index sensor using slablike gold nanoring arrays

We investigate the index sensing characteristics of plasmonic arrays based on square lattice slablike gold nanorings (NRs) with different ring widths. The gold NR arrays exhibit two extinction peaks in the visible and near-infrared corresponding to antibonding and bonding modes. Redshift and blueshift in antibonding and bonding modes when broadening the average ring width are observed. We experimentally demonstrate the sensitivity of bonding mode can be tuned by varying the average ring width. High sensitivity of 691 nm per refractive index unit is obtained for NRs with 199 nm average ring width.     

Embedded metal-wire nanograting and its application in an optical polarization beam splitter/combiner

What we believe to be a new type of embedded metal-wire nanograting is fabricated, in which the metal wires are embedded under the trenches of the substrate, and a cladding layer is deposited on the surface of the trenches to protect the metal-wire grating. The substrate of the nanograting is antireflectively coated to further increase the performance of the device. This novel embedded nanograting has a high extinction ratio, low insertion loss for optical communication wavelengths, and good wearability for practical applications. This kind of metal-wire nanograting is attractive as a polarizing beam splitter or combiner to construct various optical devices. By using this newly developed kind of nanograting, a polarization beam splitter/combiner with good performance is fabricated.