Chiroptical Response of Aluminum Nanocrescents at Ultraviolet Wavelengths.

Manipulation of plasmon modes at ultraviolet wavelengths using engineered nanophotonic devices allows for the development of high-sensitivity chiroptical spectroscopy systems. We present here an experimental framework based on aluminum-based crescent-shaped nanostructures that exhibit a strong chiroptical response at ultraviolet wavelengths. Through utilization of higher-order plasmon modes in wavelength-scale nanostructures, we address the inherent fabrication challenges in scaling the response to higher frequencies. Additionally, the distinct far-field spectral response types are analyzed within a coupled-oscillator model framework. We find two competing chiroptical response types that contribute toward potential ambiguity in the interpretation of the circular dichroism spectra. The first, optical activity, originates from the interaction between hybridized eigenmodes, whereas the second manifests as a response superficially similar to optical activity but originating instead from differential near-field absorption modes. The study of the chiroptical response from nanoplasmonic devices presented here is expected to aid the development of next-generation chiroptical spectroscopy systems.

Plasmonic nanoarcs: a versatile platform with tunable localized surface plasmon resonances in octave intervals.

The tunability of the longitudinal localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) of metallic nanoarcs is demonstrated with key relationships identified between geometric parameters of the arcs and their resonances in the infrared. The wavelength of the LSPRs is tuned by the mid-arc length of the nanoarc. The ratio between the attenuation of the fundamental and second order LSPRs is governed by the nanoarc central angle. Beneficial for plasmonic enhancement of harmonic generation, these two resonances can be tuned independently to obtain octave intervals through the design of a non-uniform arc-width profile. Because the character of the fundamental LSPR mode in nanoarcs combines an electric and a magnetic dipole, plasmonic nanoarcs with tunable resonances can serve as versatile building blocks for chiroptical and nonlinear optical devices.

Design considerations for enhancing absorption in semiconductors on metals through surface plasmon polaritons.

Surface plasmon polaritons have attracted attention for energy applications such as photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical cells because of their ability to improve optical absorption in thin films. We show that surface plasmon polaritons enhance absorption most significantly in materials with small positive real permittivity and large positive imaginary permittivity, e.g. organics or CdTe. Additional losses, accounting for dissipation in the metal and the existence of a cutoff frequency above which polaritons are no longer bound, are incorporated into efficiency calculations. Owing to these losses, devices with optical absorption based solely on SPPs will necessarily always have a lower efficiency than that predicted by the Shockley-Queisser limit. Calculations are presented for specific materials, including crystalline and amorphous Si, GaAs, CdTe, a P3HT:PCBM blend, α-Fe2O3 and rutile TiO2, as well as for general materials of arbitrary permittivity. Guidelines for selecting absorber materials and determining whether specific materials are good candidates for improving optical absorption with SPPs are presented.

Stepping outside the box: an adolescent with a new-onset seizure.

First-time seizures are frightening to children and their families, but the practice parameter recommends minimal evaluation in the emergency department (ED) for the child who presents in a neurologically normal state. We report a 12-year-old girl with seizure whose evaluation in the ED included a computed tomographic scan, largely because of parental anxiety. Computed tomography demonstrated a cerebral cavernous hemangioma or cavernoma. Because of the high recurrence risk of seizures with cavernomas, she was discharged from the ED with a prescription for an antiepileptic drug.

Microscopic origin of the chiroptical response of optical media.

The potential for enhancing the optical activity of natural chiral media using engineered nanophotonic components has been central in the quest toward developing next-generation circular-dichroism spectroscopic techniques. Through confinement and manipulation of optical fields at the nanoscale, ultrathin optical elements have enabled a path toward achieving order-of-magnitude enhancements in the chiroptical response. Here, we develop a model framework to describe the underlying physics governing the origin of the chiroptical response in optical media. The model identifies optical activity to originate from electromagnetic coupling to the hybridized eigenstates of a coupled electron-oscillator system, whereas differential absorption of opposite handedness light, though resulting in a far-field chiroptical response, is shown to have incorrectly been identified as optical activity. We validate the model predictions using experimental measurements and show them to also be consistent with observations in the literature. The work provides a generalized framework for the design and study of chiroptical systems.

Aperiodic nanoplasmonic devices for directional colour filtering and sensing.

Exploiting the wave-nature of light in its simplest form, periodic architectures have enabled a panoply of tunable optical devices with the ability to perform useful functions such as filtering, spectroscopy, and multiplexing. Here, we remove the constraint of structural periodicity to enhance, simultaneously, the performance and functionality of passive plasmonic devices operating at optical frequencies. By using a physically intuitive, first-order interference model of plasmon-light interactions, we demonstrate a simple and efficient route towards designing devices with flexible, multi-spectral optical response, fundamentally not achievable using periodic architectures. Leveraging this approach, we experimentally implement ultra-compact directional light-filters and colour-sorters exhibiting angle- or spectrally-tunable optical responses with high contrast, and low spectral or spatial crosstalk. Expanding the potential of aperiodic systems to implement tailored spectral and angular responses, these results hint at promising applications in solar-energy harvesting, optical signal multiplexing, and integrated sensing.