Surface recoil force on dielectric nanoparticle enhancement via graphene acoustic surface plasmon excitation: non-local effect consideration.

Controlling optomechanical interactions at sub-wavelength levels is of great importance in academic science and nanoparticle manipulation technologies. This Letter focuses on the improvement of the recoil force on nanoparticles placed close to a graphene-dielectric-metal structure. The momentum conservation involving the non-symmetric excitation of acoustic surface plasmons (ASPs), via near-field circularly polarized dipolar scattering, implies the occurrence of a huge momentum kick on the nanoparticle. Owing to the high wave vector values entailed in the near-field scattering process, it has been necessary to consider the non-locality of the graphene electrical conductivity to explore the influence of the scattering loss on this large wave vector region, which is neglected by the semiclassical model. Surprisingly, the contribution of ASPs to the recoil force is negligibly modified when the non-local effects are incorporated through the graphene conductivity. On the contrary, our results show that the contribution of the non-local scattering loss to this force becomes dominant when the particle is placed very close to the graphene sheet and that it is mostly independent of the dielectric thickness layer. Our work can be helpful for designing new and better performing large plasmon momentum optomechanical structures using scattering highly dependent on the polarization for moving dielectric nanoparticles.

Graphene surface modes enabling terahertz pulling force.

Plasmonic substrates are widely reported for their use in the manipulation of sub-wavelength particles. Here we analyze the optical force in the terahertz (THz) spectrum acting on a dielectric nanoparticle when located close to a graphene monolayer. When lying on a dielectric planar substrate, the graphene sheet enables the nano-sized scatterer to excite a surface plasmon (SP) well confined on the dielectric surface. Under quite general conditions, large pulling forces can be exerted on the particle as a consequence of conservation of linear momentum and a self-action effect. Our results show that the pulling force intensity critically depends on the particle shape and orientation. The low heat dissipation of graphene SPs paves the way for the development of a novel plasmonic tweezer for applications involving biospecimen manipulation in the THz region.

Giant terahertz pulling force within an evanescent field induced by asymmetric wave coupling into radiative and bound modes.

Manipulation of nano-scale objects by engineering the electromagnetic waves in the environment medium is pivotal for several particle handling techniques using optical resonators, waveguiding, and plasmonic devices. In this Letter, we theoretically demonstrate the possibility of engineering a compact and tunable plasmon-based terahertz (THz) tweezer using a graphene monolayer that is deposited on a high-index dielectric substrate. When a nanoparticle located in a vacuum in the vicinity of the graphene monolayer is illuminated under total internal reflection, as light is launched from the substrate, such a device is shown to be capable of inducing an enhanced rotating dipole in the nanoparticle thus enabling asymmetric, directional near-field coupling into the graphene plasmon mode and the radiative modes in the substrate. As a result of the total momentum conservation, the net force exerted on the particle points in a direction opposite to the pushing scattering force of the exciting evanescent field. Our results can contribute to novel realizations of photonic devices based on polarization-dependent interactions between nanoparticles and electromagnetic mode fields.

Lasing condition for trapped modes in subwavelength-wired PT-symmetric resonators.

The ability to control the laser modes within a subwavelength resonator is of key relevance in modern optoelectronics. This work deals with the theoretical research on optical properties of a PT-symmetric nano-scaled dimer formed by two dielectric wires, one is with loss and the other with gain, wrapped with graphene sheets. We show the existence of two non-radiating trapped modes which transform into radiating modes by increasing the gain-loss parameter. Moreover, these modes reach the lasing condition for suitable values of this parameter, a fact that makes these modes achieve an ultra high quality factor that is manifested on the response of the structure when it is excited by a plane wave. Unlike other mechanisms that transform trapped modes into radiating modes, we show that the variation of gain-loss parameter in the balanced loss-gain structure here studied leads to a variation in the phase difference between induced dipole moments on each wires, without appreciable variation in the modulus of these dipole moments. We provide an approximated method that reproduces the main results provided by the rigorous calculation. Our theoretical findings reveal the possibility to develop unconventional optical devices and structures with enhanced functionality.

Surface plasmon dispersion engineering for optimizing scattering, emission, and radiation properties on a graphene spherical device.

We present a dispersion engineering method based on the rigorous electromagnetic theory to study the scattering properties of a double graphene layer spherical structure. The localized surface plasmons (LSPs) supported by the structure provide resonance channels that lead to an enhancement of the electromagnetic cross section. The method is used to find conditions under which two different multipolar LSP resonances occur at the same frequency value. The superscattering feature under these conditions is revealed by an extraordinary enhancement of the scattering cross section when the structure is illuminated by a plane wave field. Moreover, by studying the behavior of a single emitter localized near the graphene sphere, we show that the spontaneous emission and radiation efficiencies are also largely enhanced when the two different LSP resonances overlap.

Scattering of light from metamaterial gratings with finite length.

Using an integral equation approach based on the Rayleigh hypothesis, we investigate the scattering of a plane wave at the rough surface of a metamaterial with a finite number of sinusoidal grooves. To show the adequacy of the model, we present results that are in agreement with the predictions of physical optics and that quantitatively reproduce the polarization and angular dependences predicted by the C-formalism for metamaterial gratings with an infinite number of grooves.

Multipolar-sensitive engineering of magnetic dipole spontaneous emission with a dielectric nanoresonator antenna.

We propose an axisymmetric silicon nanoresonator with designed tapered angle well for the extraordinary enhancement of the decay rate of magnetic dipole (MD) emitters. Due to the resonant coupling of a MD emitter and the MD mode of the subwavelength resonator, the Purcell factor (PF) can easily reach 500, which is significantly higher than the PF when using a silicon nanosphere of the same size. The PF and the resonance frequency are conveniently tuned through the resonator diameter and the taper angle of the blind hole. When supported by a metallic substrate, further enhancement ([Formula: see text]) of the MD spontaneous emission is triggered by an image-induced quadrupolar high-Q mode of the nanoantenna. For the sake of comparison we include a critical analysis of the canonical problem that considers a Si spherical shell. Our results might facilitate a novel strategy for promising realizations of chip-scale nanophotonic applications.

Radiation characteristics of electromagnetic eigenmodes at the corrugated interface of a left-handed material.

We study the radiation characteristics of electromagnetic surface waves at a periodically corrugated interface between a conventional and a negatively refracting (or left-handed) material. In this case, and contrary to the surface plasmon polariton in a metallic grating, surface plasmon polaritons may radiate on both sides of the rough interface along which they propagate. We find novel radiation regimes which provide an indirect demonstration of other unusual phenomena characteristic of electromagnetic wave propagation in left-handed materials, such as negative refraction or backward wave propagation.