Investigation on the Sensitivity and FOM of Ag Nanoparticles and Nanoarrays

The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectroscopy of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) is sensitive to the changes of the surrounding medium, which enables the NPs to serve as plasmonic nanosensors. In this paper, the refractive index (RI) sensitivity and figure of merit (FOM) of individual NPs and nanoarrays are investigated by employing the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The influence of shape and size are analyzed for individual NPs, and the influence of particle spacing is analyzed for nanoarrays. It is found that the NP with shorter size in incident direction or longer size in polarization direction exhibits better sensing performance. And when the a_eff is between 20 and 60 nm, the larger NP exhibits higher sensitivity but lower FOM. The results of nanoarrays show that when particle spacing is large, the sensitivity of nanoarrays is large, and the sensitivity of nanoarrays decreases first and then increases as particle spacing decreases. In addition, the FOM of nanoarrays exhibits the similar trend.

     

Tunable Extraordinary Optical Transmission in a Metal Film Perforated with Two-Level Subwavelength Cylindrical Holes

We propose a novel plasmonic metal structure composed of a silver film perforated with a two-dimensional square array of two-level cylindrical holes on a silica substrate. The transmission properties of this structure are theoretically calculated by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Double-enhanced transmission peaks are achieved in the visible and infrared regions, which mainly originate from the excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), the hybridization of plasmon modes, and the optical cavity mode formed in the holes. The enhanced transmission behaviors can be effectively tailored by changing the geometrical parameters and dielectric materials filled in the holes. These findings indicate that our proposed structure has potential applications in highly integrated optoelectronic devices.     

Plasmonic Modes of Ag Nanoshell Excited by Bi-Dipole

We studied plasmonic dipole, quadrupole, and sextupole modes of Ag nanoshell (NS) excited by a pair of aligned radial electric dipoles (bi-dipole) in symmetric and antisymmetric configurations by using dyadic Green’s functions. The mutual excitation rate and the radiative and nonradiative powers of bi-dipole in the presence of Ag NS were analyzed. Our results show that these modes are in accordance with the surface plasmon resonances of Ag NS irradiated by a polarized plane wave. In addition, the mutual excitation rate retains local maxima at these modes. Moreover, the quadrupole and octupole modes are only excited in the cases of the symmetric radial bi-dipole, while the dipole and sextupole modes are only excited in the cases of the antisymmetric ones. The dipole mode is broadband, while the other higher-order modes are narrowband. Moreover, all of these plasmonic modes are red-shifted as the ratio of the core radius to the shell thickness increases.     

Generation of Multiple Fano Resonances in Plasmonic Split Nanoring Dimer

We present a computational study of the plasmonic response of a split nanoring dimer resonator which supports multiple plasmonic Fano-like resonances that arises by the coupling and interference of the dimer plasmon modes. For the generation of Fano resonances with large modulation depths, numerous configurations of the dimer resonator are analyzed which are observed to be highly dependent on the polarization of incident light. Moreover, the influence of dimension of the split nanoring structure on the spectral positions and intensities of the higher order Fano resonances are also investigated, and it is found that the asymmetric Fano line shapes can be flexibly tuned in the spectrum by varying various geometrical parameters. Such Fano resonators are also discovered to offer high values of figure of merit and contrast ratio due to which they are suitable for high-performance biological sensors.     

Tailoring Plasmon Lifetime in Suspended Nanoantenna Arrays for High-Performance Plasmon Sensing

We demonstrate significantly longer plasmon lifetime and stronger electric field enhancement by lifting the nanoantenna arrays above the substrate by dielectric nanopillars. The role of the pillar is to offer a more homogeneous dielectric background allowing stronger diffraction coupling among plasmonic nanoantennas leading to a Fanolike asymmetric lineshape. It is found that the electric fields around the nanoantennas can be greatly enhanced when the Fanolike resonance is excited, and a 4.2 times enhancement is achieved compared with the pure resonance in individual nanoantennas. Furthermore, only a collective surface mode with its electric fields of the same direction as the induced electric moment in the nanoantennas could mediate the excitation of such a Fanolike resonance. More importantly, the sensitivity and the figure of merit (FOM) of this plasmonic structure can reach as high as 900 nm/RIU and 53, respectively. Our study offers a new, simple, and efficient way to design the plasmonic systems with desired electric field enhancement and spectral lineshape for different applications.     

Optothermally Controlled Charge Transfer Plasmons in Au-Ge<Subscript>2</Subscript>Sb<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te<Subscript>5</Subscript> Core-Shell Dimers

Functional and reversible plasmonic resonances across the visible and near-infrared spectrum have opened new avenues for developing advanced next-generation nanophotonic devices. In this study, by using optothermally controlled phase-change material (PCM) for plasmonic nanostructures, we successfully induced highly tunable charge transfer plasmon (CTP) resonance modes. To this end, we have chosen a two-member dimer assembly consisting of gold cores and Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) shells in distant, touching, and overlapping regimes. We show that switching between amorphous (dielectric) and crystalline (conductive) phases of GST allows for achieving tunable dipolar and CTP resonances and enables an effective interplay between these modes along the near-infrared spectrum. By analyzing electromagnetically calculated spectral responses for the dimer antenna in tunneling and direct charge transfer regimes, we confirmed that the induced CTPs in touching and overlapping regimes are highly controllable and pronounced in comparison to the quantum tunneling regime. We also use the precise, fast, and controllable switching between dipolar and CTP resonant modes to develop a telecommunication switch based on a simple metallodielectric dimer. The proposed structures can help designing optothermally controlled devices without morphological variations in the geometry of the design, and having strong potential for advanced plasmon modulation and fast data routing.     

Plasmon Peak Sensitivity Investigation of Individual Cu and Cu@Cu<Subscript>2</Subscript>O Core–Shell Nanoparticle Sensors

It is crucial to reveal the plasmon peak sensitivity responses of individual Cu nanoparticles, which provide another kind of plasmon sensors besides Au/Ag ones. In this paper, such responses to both the bulk and local refractive index (RI) of individual Cu nanosphere sensors are theoretically investigated by Mie theory. Both of them are revealed to be quadratic. The underlying mechanisms are elucidated well in terms of Rayleigh approximation. The corresponding sensitivity factors are demonstrated to increase with the RI of the nanospheres’ bulk and local surrounding mediums linearly. The plasmon peak sensitivities and sensitivity factors of experimentally encountered Cu@Cu₂O core–shell nanoparticles are calculated as well, which reveals that appropriate dielectric encapsulations to Cu nanospheres are favored for their potential plasmonic sensing and detection applications.     

Plasmonic Effect Enhancement in Ridge–Trench Structure Assisted by Fluorescence Dye

Confinement of exciton–polaritons using ridge–trench structures filled with fluorescent dye materials was investigated on the basis of geometrical analysis as well as plasmonic behavior analysis. It was found that the photoluminescence intensity of the dye increased significantly in the trench than on the ridge due to geometry confinement. However, with silver layer deposited between the ridge–trench structure on Si substrate and the fluorescence dye, apparent photoluminescence peaks due to surface plasmon resonance centered at 360 nm (3.45 eV) were generated while the photoluminescence peaks of the dye materials centered at 580 nm (2.14 eV) quenched in the trench. Competition of spontaneous emission coupled into external electromagnetic modes and plasmon modes is the cause for the quench in photoluminescence. Our results show a direct energy transfer from low-energy photoluminescence to higher energy photoluminesence in dye materials due to plasmonic resonance effects.     

The Role of Propagating and Localized Surface Plasmons for SERS Enhancement in Periodic Nanostructures

Periodic arrays of plasmonic nanopillars have been shown to provide large, uniform surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancements. We show that these enhancements are the result of the combined impact of localized and propagating surface plasmon modes within the plasmonic architecture. Here, arrays of periodically arranged silicon nanopillars of varying sizes and interpillar gaps were fabricated to enable the exploration of the SERS response from two different structures; one featuring only localized surface plasmon (LSP) modes and the other featuring LSP and propagating (PSP) modes. It is shown that the LSP modes determine the optimal architecture, and thereby determine the optimum diameter for the structures at a given incident. However, the increase in the SERS enhancement factor for a system in which LSP and PSP cooperatively interact was measured to be over an order of magnitude higher and the peak in the diameter dependence was significantly broadened, thus, such structures not only provide larger enhancement factors but are also more forgiving of lithographic variations.     

Alphabetic-Core Assisted Microstructure Fiber Based Plasmonic Biosensor

Light control capability of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is a unique feature which can be applied to improve biosensing and plasmonic performance. Here, we reported alphabetic-core microstructure fiber-based plasmonic biosensor. Three different alphabetic R-, M-, and S-shaped cores of PCF-based plasmonic microstructures show controllable light propagation to enhance biosensor sensitivity and resolution. The light-guiding properties and sensing performance are investigated numerically using the finite element method (FEM). The proposed R-shaped core (RSC), M-shaped core (MSC), and S-shaped core (SSC) PCF-based plasmonic sensors show the maximum wavelength and amplitude sensitivities of 12,000, 11,000, 10,000 nm/RIU and 478, 533, and 933 RIU⁻¹, respectively, in the refractive index (RI) range of 1.33 to 1.40. The sensors also exhibit promising wavelength resolution of 8.33 × 10⁻⁶, 9.09 × 10⁻⁶, and 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ RIU, with figure of merit (FOM) of 108, 143, and 217 RIU⁻¹ for RSC, MSC, and SSC PCFs, respectively. The tunable sensing performance is also observed in design structures due to controllable light traveling path and their interaction with analytes. The proposed alphabetic-core PCF SPR sensors would be a promising candidate for the application of light controlling, trapping in microscale environment, and biosensing.

     

Plasmonic Coupling Effects on the Refractive Index Sensitivities of Plane Au-Nanosphere-Cluster Sensors

Plasmonic coupling effects (between neighboring components) are able to red shift the peak wavelengths of dipolar-localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) and increase the corresponding refractive index sensitivity of nanoparticle sensors. The coupling effects on plane Au-nanosphere-cluster (including nanosphere dimer, trimer, pentamer, and heptamer) sensors are numerically investigated by finite element method (FEM). We found that the coupling does not violate the quadratic response characteristics of LSPR peak wavelengths, hence the linear responses of the sensitivities to the bulk refractive index of Au cluster sensors. Yet, for nanosphere dimer sensors, they contribute to the exponential decrease of sensitivities with their gap distances, which follow the universal plasmon ruler behavior. The amplitude of their fractional sensitivity shift is revealed to be bulk refractive index independent, which is different from that of their fractional LSPR peak wavelength shift. These are analytically explained well in terms of an effective nanoparticle model. The present work also gives an upper sensitivity limit for Au nanosphere dimer systems and provides a method to estimate the interparticle separation between the two component nanospheres of the dimer.

     

Tunable Fano Resonance Based Mode Interference in Waveguide-Cavity-Graphene Hybrid Structure

In this paper, a graphene strip is introduced into a metal-insulator-metal (MIM)-integrated square cavity hybrid structure; the transmission spectra are theoretically investigated by the finite different time domain (FDTD) methods. An asymmetric Fano resonance dip that has high figure of merit (FOM) value appears in the transmission band. According to the multimode interference coupled mode theory (MICMT) analytical method, the Fano resonance originates from the coherent coupling between TM₁₀ cavity magnetic mode and graphene plasmonic resonance electric mode. The center wavelength, full width at half maximum (FWHM), and FOM value of the Fano resonance can be tuned dynamically by altering the Fermi level of the graphene. Through breaking the symmetry of the hybrid structure or introducing double graphene strips with different Fermi level into hybrid structure, double Fano resonance are realized. This study can provide some theoretical basis and design reference for designing ultrahigh sensitivity plasmonic sensor.

     

金纳米棒的光学性质及其在生物医学领域的应用

简要介绍金纳米棒的光学性质和合成方法,重点阐述其在生物医学领域研究的最新进展,并对其今后的研究方向进行展望．金纳米棒是一种胶囊状的金纳米颗粒,具有一个横向等离子共振吸收峰和一个纵向等离子共振吸收峰,分别对应其横轴和纵轴两个特征尺寸．通过调节金纳米棒的长径比,纵向等离子共振吸收峰可由可见光区跨越至近红外光区．金纳米棒这一独特的光学性质在生物和化学传感方面有着广泛而重要的应用前景．     

Enabling greener DSL access networks by their stabilization with artificial noise and SNR margin

Low-power modes (LPM) are a standardized means in asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL) 2 for reducing the power consumption at the central office. However, the activation of LPMs is hampered by the operators’ concern for instability introduced by frequent transmit power changes. The injection of artificial noise (AN) has been proposed as a standard-compliant stabilization technique. We develop an analytical solution for setting the AN power spectrum. Based on this solution we jointly optimize the AN power spectrum and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) margin. Simulation results show the performance gain in terms of rate and energy compared to heuristic rules for setting the AN power spectrum. We propose and demonstrate three approaches for evaluating the performance of AN-enabled DSL systems, including (a) joint spectrum balancing, AN, and margin optimization, (b) single-user worst-case-stable optimization, and (c) worst-case-stable optimization based on sequential initialization. Simulation results confirm a strong dependency of the performance under AN on the selected SNR margins, and highlight the total AN power consumption as well as the residual energy savings under low-power modes stabilized by AN.     

Slab Thickness Dependence of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Behavior in Gold Nanorings

We present detailed experimental and numerical studies of plasmonic properties of gold nanoring (NR) arrays with different slab thicknesses from 15 to 125 nm. The hybrid plasmon resonances for the bonding and antibonding modes in gold NRs exhibit a high slab thickness dependence behavior in optical properties. For the thinner slab thickness below 50 nm, both hybrid modes show large spectral tunabilities by varying the slab thickness. Furthermore, for such hollow NR structure, the enhancements of electric field intensities at the inner and outer ring surfaces when reducing the slab thickness are investigated. We observe a significant transition of field distributions for the antibonding mode. All these features can be understood by surface charge distributions from our simulations. The results of this study offer a potential strategy to design a composite plasmonic nanostructure with large field enhancement for numerous applications.     

Spoof Localized Surface Plasmons Excited by Plasmonic Waveguide Chip with Corrugated Disk Resonator

We designed and fabricated a millimeter plasmonic chip consisted of coplanar waveguide (CPW) and plasmonic waveguide with one corrugated disk resonator (CDR). The spoof localized surface plasmon (LSP) resonance modes can be excited by the interaction between plasmonic waveguide and CDR. Fundamental and higher order sharp spoof LSP resonances (from dipole to dodecapole) were observed in the transmission coefficient spectrum. The Q-value as high as 268.3 (octupole) was experimentally obtained. Experimental results show good agreement with theoretical and simulated ones. All the results may have potential applications in microchip based sensing and filtering.     

Polarization Properties of Selectively Gold-filled Suspended Core Microstructured Optical Fibers

We study the polarization properties of suspended core microstructured optical fibers (SC-MOFs) with hexagonal lattice structure and high air-filling fraction having a single gold-filled hole along the horizontal axis. The interaction between the core-guided light and metal leads to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) at particular frequencies where the phase-matching condition is satisfied. We observe from the modal analysis that MOFs with high air-filling fraction offer the possibility of coupling of the fundamental mode with the first-order surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode. With the increase in the suspension factor (SF), the fundamental mode couples with higher order SPP modes and the coupling strength also enhances. It also leads to an increase in modal birefringence. Reduction in beat length by an order of magnitude compared to the reported values is being reported for the first time to our knowledge. We have achieved the lowest beat length of 0.0105 mm at 1 μm wavelength for the structure having d/Λ = 0.85 and SF = 1.65. The results show that such plasmonic SC-MOFs may perform as efficient in-fiber polarizers and polarization filters.

     

Controllable Mode Hybridization and Interaction Within a Plasmonic Cavity Formed by Two Bimetallic Gratings

We theoretically study mode hybridization and interaction among surface plasmon polariton Bloch wave mode, Fabry–Perot cavity mode, and waveguide mode within a plasmonic cavity composed by two parallel planar bimetallic gratings. Four hybridized modes result from mode hybridization between surface plasmon polariton Bloch wave modes on the two gratings are observed. By changing the dielectric environment, mode hybridization behavior can be manipulated. Importantly, waveguide-plasmon polariton mode due to hybridization between grating supported surface plasmon polariton Bloch wave mode and cavity supported waveguide mode is observed. We demonstrate that surface plasmon polariton Bloch wave mode and Fabry–Perot cavity mode with the same mode symmetry can interact by presenting an anticrossing behavior, which can be controlled by laterally shifting one grating with respect to the other that causes a phase difference shift of the two involving modes. The proposed plasmonic cavity offers potentials for subwavelength lithography, tunable plasmonic filter, and controllable light-matter interaction.     

Tuning the Propagation Constant by the Anticrossing Bandgap Prism Coupling Technique

A novel plasmonic structure based on an anticrossing bandgap prism coupling technique is proposed. The study has been carried out using photonic crystals based on diffraction gratings (bounded by dielectrics with identical dielectric functions) together with a high refractive index prism to couple the long-range surface plasmon polaritons to photons. We analyse the structure and demonstrate the ability for tuning the propagation constants of plasmon modes by changing the thickness of the gold grating. The comparison to non-bandgap techniques is studied, and the influence of the plasmonic configuration on the plasmon propagation constant is discussed as well. Experimental measurements were also carried out to confirm the validity of our model.     

Higher Order Tunable Fano Resonances in Multilayer Nanocones

We present a computational study of the plasmonic response of a gold–silica–gold multilayered nanostructure based on truncated nanocones. Symmetry breaking is introduced by rotating the nanostructure and by offsetting the layers. Nanocones with coaxial multilayers show dipole–dipole Fano resonances with resonance frequencies depending on the polarization of the incident light, which can be changed by rotating the nanostructure. By breaking the axial symmetry, plasmonic modes of distinct angular momenta are strongly mixed, which provide a set of unique and higher order tunable Fano resonances. The plasmonic response of the multilayered nanocones is compared to that of multishell nanostructures with the same volume and the former are discovered to render visible high-order dark modes and to provide sharp tunable Fano resonances. In particular, higher order tunable Fano resonances arising in non-coaxial multilayer nanocones can vary the plasmon lines at various spectral regions simultaneously, which makes these nanostructures greatly suitable for plasmon line shaping both in the extinction and near field spectra.