Andrei Nemilentsau

Anisotropic 2D Materials for Tunable Hyperbolic Plasmonics

Motivated by the recent emergence of a new class of anisotropic 2D materials, we examine their electromagnetic modes and demonstrate that a broad class of the materials can host highly directional hyperbolic plasmons. Their propagation direction can be manipulated on the spot by gate doping, enabling hyperbolic beam reflection, refraction, and bending. The realization of these natural 2D hyperbolic media opens up a new avenue in dynamic control of hyperbolic plasmons not possible in the 3D version.

Thermal radiation from carbon nanotubes in the terahertz range.

The thermal radiation from an isolated finite-length carbon nanotube (CNT) is theoretically investigated both in near- and far-field zones. The formation of the discrete spectrum in metallic CNTs in the terahertz range is demonstrated due to the reflection of strongly slowed-down surface-plasmon modes from CNT ends. The effect does not appear in semiconductor CNTs. The concept of a CNT as a thermal nanoantenna is proposed.

The effects of three-dimensional defects on one-way surface plasmon propagation for photonic topological insulators comprised of continuum media

We have investigated one-way surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) at the interface of a continuum magnetoplasma material and metal, in the presence of three-dimensional surface defects. Bulk electromagnetic modes of continuum materials have Chern numbers, analogous to those of photonic crystals. This can lead to the appearance of topologically-protected surface modes at material interfaces, propagating at frequencies inside the bandgap of the bulk materials. Previous studies considered two-dimensional structures; here we consider the effect of three-dimensional defects, and show that, although backward propagation/reflection cannot occur, side scattering does take place and has significant effect on the propagation of the surface mode. Several different waveguiding geometries are considered for reducing the effects of side-scattering, and we also consider the effects of metal loss.

Vertical single-wall carbon nanotube forests as plasmonic heat pipes

High thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes (NTs) is attractive for the heat removal applications. However, the problem of efficient thermal coupling to the heater/cooler still needs to be resolved. We study near-field electromagnetic tunneling as a mechanism of heat transfer across the interface. We report interface thermal (Kapitza) conductance between a low-density vertical metallic single-wall NT forest and a quartz substrate on the order of 50 MW/Km(2) and explain it by strong electromagnetic interaction and near-field entanglement between the surface phonon-polaritons in the polar dielectric and the NT plasmons. We predict that the thickness of the NT film can be tweaked to the resonance wavelength of these entangled modes for performance optimization of nanocarbon thermal interconnects.

HIGH-ORDER OPTICAL HARMONIC GENERATION ON CARBON NANOTUBES: QUANTUM-MECHANICAL APPROACH

The high harmonic generation by a single-wall carbon nanotube (CNT) due to the interaction with femtosecond laser pulses is investigated. The analysis utilizes the quantum kinetic equations for π-electrons with both intra-band and inter-band transitions. Nonperturbative approach using numerical solution of the quantum kinetic equations in the time domain has been developed and the density of the axial electric current in CNT has been calculated. The amplitude of this current and the conversion efficiency in dependence on the number of the high-order harmonics, the CNT type, the frequency and the intensity of the driving field have been investigated.

Transient and steady-state entanglement mediated by three-dimensional plasmonic waveguides

Entanglement between two qubits (two level atoms) mediated by surface plasmons in three-dimensional plasmonic waveguides is studied using a quantum master equation formalism. Two types of waveguides, a nanowire and a V-shaped channel cut in a flat metal plane, are considered. The Green functions for the waveguides, which rigorously describes the dissipative qubit environment, are calculated numerically using a direct finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solution of Maxwells equations. Finite-length effects are shown to play a crucial role in enhancing entanglement, and resonant-length plasmonic waveguides can provide higher entanglement between qubits than infinite-length waveguides. It is also shown that coupling slots can improve entanglement via stronger qubit-waveguide coupling, for both the infinite- and finite-waveguide cases. The formalism used in the paper can be applied to a wide range of plasmonic waveguides.

Self-Assembled Three-Dimensional Graphene-Based Polyhedrons Inducing Volumetric Light Confinement

The ability to transform two-dimensional (2D) materials into a three-dimensional (3D) structure while preserving their unique inherent properties might offer great enticing opportunities in the development of diverse applications for next generation micro/nanodevices. Here, a self-assembly process is introduced for building free-standing 3D, micro/nanoscale, hollow, polyhedral structures configured with a few layers of graphene-based materials: graphene and graphene oxide. The 3D structures have been further modified with surface patterning, realized through the inclusion of metal patterns on their 3D surfaces. The 3D geometry leads to a nontrivial spatial distribution of strong electric fields (volumetric light confinement) induced by 3D plasmon hybridization on the surface of the graphene forming the 3D structures. Due to coupling in all directions, resulting in 3D plasmon hybridization, the 3D closed box graphene generates a highly confined electric field within as well as outside of the cubes. Moreover, since the uniform coupling reduces the decay of the field enhancement away from the surface, the confined electric field inside of the 3D structure shows two orders of magnitude higher than that of 2D graphene before transformation into the 3D structure. Therefore, these structures might be used for detection of target substances (not limited to only the graphene surfaces, but using the entire volume formed by the 3D graphene-based structure) in sensor applications.

Spontaneous decay of the excited state of an emitter near a finite-length metallic carbon nanotube

The spontaneous decay of an excited state of an emitter placed in the vicinity of a metallic single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) was examined theoretically. The emitter-SWNT coupling strongly depends on the position of the emitter relative to the SWNT, the length of the SWNT, the dipole transition frequency and the orientation of the emitter. In the high-frequency regime, dips in the spectrum of the spontaneous decay rate exist at the resonance frequencies in the spectrum of the SWNT conductivity. In the intermediate-frequency regime, the SWNT conductivity is very low, and the spontaneous decay rate is practically unaffected by the SWNT. In the low-frequency regime, the spectrum of the spontaneous decay rate contains resonances at the antennas resonance frequencies for surface-wave propagation in the SWNT. Enhancement of both the total and radiative spontaneous decay rates by several orders in magnitude is predicted at these resonance frequencies. The strong emitter-field coupling is achieved, in spite of the low Q factor of the antenna resonances, due to the very high magnitude of the electromagnetic field in the near-field zone. The vacuum Rabi oscillations of the population of the excited emitter state are exhibited when the emitter is coupled to an antenna resonance of the SWNT.

Directive Surface Plasmons on Tunable Two-Dimensional Hyperbolic Metasurfaces and Black Phosphorus: Green’s Function and Complex Plane Analysis

We study the electromagnetic response of two- and quasi-two-dimensional (2-D) hyperbolic materials, on which a simple dipole source can excite a well-confined and tunable surface plasmon polariton (SPP). The analysis is based on the Green’s function for an anisotropic 2-D surface, which nominally requires the evaluation of a 2-D Sommerfeld integral. We show that for the SPP contribution, this integral can be evaluated efficiently in a mixed continuous-discrete form as a continuous spectrum contribution (branch cut integral) of a residue term, in distinction to the isotropic case, where the SPP is simply given as a discrete residue term. The regime of strong SPP excitation is discussed, and the complex-plane singularities are identified, leading to physical insight into the excited SPP. We also present a stationary phase solution valid for large radial distances. Examples are presented using graphene strips to form a hyperbolic metasurface and thin-film black phosphorus. Green’s function and complex-plane analysis developed allows for the exploration of hyperbolic plasmons in general 2-D materials.

Electromagnetic theory of nanodimensional antennas for terahertz, infrared and optical regimes

An electrodynamical theory of the vibrator nanoantenna based on the different types of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been presented. The theory covers a wide frequency range from terahertz to optical frequencies. It is based on the quantum-mechanical description of the CNT conductivity. The boundary-value electrodynamical problem has been formulated using the effective boundary conditions method and has been solved by the integral equations technique. As a result, a number of general properties of CNT-based nanoantennas have been revealed. These properties are very promising for potential applications in nanoelectronics, high resolution near field optical microscopy, thermal microscopy, etc.