Electromagnetic wave propagation in a Ag nanoparticle-based plasmonic power divider.

In this paper a new silver (Ag) nanoparticle-based structure is presented which shows potential as a device for front end applications, in nano-interconnects or power dividers. A novel oxide bar ensures waveguiding and control of the signal strength with promising results. The structure is simulated by the two dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method considering TM polarization and the Drude model. The effect of different wavelengths, material loss, gaps and particle sizes on the overall performance is discussed. It is found that the maximum signal strength remains along the Ag metallic nanoparticles and can be guided to targeted end points.

Analysis of sub-wavelength light propagation through long double-chain nanowires with funnel feeding.

The surface integral equation (SIE) method is utilized to characterize plasmonic waveguide made of two parallel chains of silver nanowires with radius of 25nm fed by a V-shaped funnel at a working wavelength of 600nm. The efficiency of energy transport along the waveguide due to surface plasmonic coupling is investigated for different dimensions and shapes. The opening angle of the V-shaped funnel region for optimum light capturing is included in the investigation as well. A long plasmonic double-chain waveguide of length ~3.3mum has been analyzed and optimized.

Sharp trench waveguide bends in dual mode operation with ultra-small photonic crystals for suppressing radiation.

A sharp 90 degree bend in a dual mode trench waveguide is analyzed by means of the MMP method. Through evolutionary strategy optimization, different configurations with low reflection, low radiation, low mode conversion, and therefore high transmission for the dominant mode are obtained. Three different types of bends are analyzed and compared: mirror-based structures, resonator-based structures, and structures with a small photonic crystal in the bend area. The local photonic crystal helps not only suppressing radiation but also provides solutions with fewer fabrication tolerance problems.

Design of ultra-compact metallo-dielectric photonic crystal filters.

Filter characteristics of metallo-dielectric photonic crystal slabs are analyzed using the Multiple Multipole Program combined with the Model-Based Parameter Estimation technique. This approach takes losses and material dispersion into account and provides highly accurate results at short computation time. Starting from this analysis, different ultra-compact band pass filters for telecommunication wavelengths are designed. The filters consist of five silver wires embedded in a waveguide structure. By applying stochastic and deterministic techniques the filter structures are optimized to obtain the desired characteristics.

Validation of human skin models in the MHz region.

The human skin consists of several layers with distinct dielectric properties. Resolving the impact of changes in dielectric parameters of skin layers and predicting them allows for non-invasive sensing in medical diagnosis. So far no complete skin and underlying tissue model is available for this purpose in the MHz range. Focusing on this dispersiondominated frequency region multilayer skin models are investigated: First, containing homogeneous non-dispersive sublayers and second, with sublayers obtained from a three-phase Maxwell-Garnett mixture of shelled cell-like ellipsoids. Both models are numerically simulated using the Finite Element Method, a fringing field sensor on the top of the multilayer system serving as a probe. Furthermore, measurements with the sensor probing skin in vivo are performed. In order to validate the models the uppermost skin layer, the stratum corneum was i) included and ii) removed in models and measurements. It is found that only the Maxwell-Garnett mixture model can qualitatively reproduce the measured dispersion which still occurs without the stratum corneum and consequently, structural features of tissue have to be part of the model.

Resolution of negative-index slabs.

Different definitions of the resolution of negative-index-material (NIM) slabs and classical optical lenses with magnification 1 are presented and evaluated for both cases. Several numerical codes--based on domain and boundary discretizations and working in the time and frequency domains--are applied and compared. It is shown that superresolution depends very much on the definition of resolution and that it may be obtained not only for NIM slabs but also for highly refracting classical lenses when the distances of the image and source points from the surface of the lens or slab are shorter than the wavelength.

Multiple multipole method with automatic multipole setting applied to the simulation of surface plasmons in metallic nanostructures.

Highly accurate computations of surface plasmons in metallic nanostructures with various geometries are presented. Calculations for cylinders with irregular cross section, coupled structures, and periodic gratings are shown. These systems exhibit a resonant behavior with complex field distribution and strong field enhancement, and therefore their computation requires a very accurate numerical method. It is shown that the multiple multipole (MMP) method, together with an automatic multipole setting (AMS) procedure, is well suited for these computations. An AMS technique for the two-dimensional MMP method is presented. It relies on the global topology of each domain boundary to generate a distribution of numerically independent multipole expansions. This technique greatly facilitates the MMP modeling.