Asaf David

Metafocusing by a Metaspiral Plasmonic Lens

We designed and realized a metasurface (manipulating the local geometry) spiral (manipulating the global geometry) plasmonic lens, which fundamentally overcomes the multiple efficiency and functionality challenges of conventional in-plane plasmonic lenses. The combination of spirality and metasurface achieves much more efficient and uniform linear-polarization-independent plasmonic focusing. As for functionality, under matched circularly polarized illumination the lens directs all of the power coupled to surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) into the focal spot, while the orthogonal polarization excites only diverging SPPs that do not penetrate the interior of the lens, achieving 2 orders of magnitude intensity contrast throughout the entire area of the lens. This optimal functional focusing is clearly demonstrated by near-field optical microscopy measurements that are in excellent agreement with simulations and are supported by a detailed theoretical interpretation of the underlying mechanisms. Our results advance the field of plasmonics toward functional detection and the employment of SPPs in smart pixels, near-field microscopy, lithography, and particle manipulation.

Sub-100 nm focusing of short wavelength plasmons in homogeneous 2D space.

We present a direct measurement of short-wavelength plasmons focused into a sub-100 nm spot in homogeneous (translation invariant) 2D space. The short-wavelength (SW) surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) are achieved in metal-insulator-insulator (MII) platform consisting of silver, silicon nitride, and air. This platform is homogeneous in two spatial directions and supports SPP at wavelength more than two times shorter than that in free space yet interacts with the outer world through the evanescent tail in air. We use an apertureless (scattering) near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) to map directly the amplitude and phase of these SW-SPP and show they can be focused to under 70 nm without structurally assisted confinement such as nanoantennas or nanofocusing. This, along with the use of visible light at 532 nm which is suitable for optical microscopy, can open new directions in direct biological and medical imaging at the sub-100 nm resolution regime.

Low-frequency transmitted intensity noise induced by stimulated Brillouin scattering in optical fibers

We study theoretically and experimentally the spectral properties of low-frequency transmitted intensity noise induced by stimulated Brillouin scattering in optical fibers. In fibers with a length of 25 km the Brillouin scattering induces transmitted intensity noise with a bandwidth on the order of tens of kHz. The power spectral density of the noise can be stronger than the shot noise in the photo-detector even when the optical power is significantly lower than the Brillouin threshold. The low-frequency transmitted intensity noise is caused due to depletion of the pump wave by the stochastic Brillouin wave. Since pump depletion occurs over a long distance, noise with a narrow bandwidth is generated in the transmitted wave. When the pump power is high enough, the spectrum of the induced noise contains features such as hole at low frequencies and ripples. Good quantitative agreement between theory and experiments is obtained. Low-frequency intensity noise induced by Brillouin scattering may limit the generation of ultra-low noise signals in optoelectronic oscillators and may limit the transfer of ultra-low noise signals in fibers.

Loop-length dependent sources of phase noise in optoelectronic oscillators

Optoelectronic oscillators are a promising source of spectrally pure, easily tunable microwave signals. These oscillators use a low-loss fiber optic delay line as a very high Q resonant cavity. However, length-dependent sources of phase noise prevent the full Q of the resonant cavity from being realized. Here we show evidence that this length-dependent phase noise is in part dependent upon the optical power and laser noise. This dependence is consistent with the conversion of laser noise to phase noise via the Kerr effect.

Spin-patterned plasmonics: towards optical access to topological-insulator surface states

Topological insulators (TI) are new phases of matter with topologically protected surface states (SS) possessing novel physical properties such as spin-momentum locking. Coupling optical angular momentum to the SS is of interest for both fundamental understanding and applications in future spintronic devices. However, due to the nanoscale thickness of the surface states, the light matter interaction is dominated by the bulk. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate a plasmonic cavity enabling both nanoscale light confinement and control of surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) spin angular momentum (AM)--towards coupling to topological-insulator SS. The resulting SPP field components within the cavity are arranged in a chess-board-like pattern. Each chess-board square exhibits approximately a uniform circular polarization (spin AM) of the local in-plane field interleaved by out-of-plane field vortices (orbital AM). As the first step, we demonstrate the predicted pattern experimentally by near-field measurements on a gold-air interface, with excellent agreement to our theory. Our results pave the way towards efficient optical access to topological-insulator surface states using plasmonics.

Linearly dichroic plasmonic lens and hetero-chiral structures.

We present an experimental study of Hetero-Chiral (HC) plasmonic lenses, comprised of constituents with opposite chirality, demonstrating linearly dichroic focusing. The lenses focus only light with a specific linear polarization and result in a dark focal spot for the orthogonal polarization state. We introduce the design concepts and quantitatively compare several members of the HC family, deriving necessary conditions for linear dichroism and several comparative engineering parameters. The HC lenses were experimentally investigated using aperture-less near field scanning microscope collecting the amplitude of the plasmonic near-field. Our results exhibit an excellent match to the simulation predictions. The demonstrated ability for linearly dichroic functional focusing could lead to novel sensing applications.

Far-field measurements of short-wavelength surface plasmons

We present direct far-field measurements of short-wavelength surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) by conventional optics means. Plasmonic wavelength as short as 231 nm was observed for 532 nm illumination on a Ag−Si3N4 platform, demonstrating the capability to characterize SPPs well below the optical diffraction limit. This is done by scaling a sub-wavelength interferometric pattern to a far-field resolvable periodicity. These subwavelength patterns are obtained by coupling light into counter-propagating SPP waves to create a standing-wave pattern of half the SPP wavelength periodicity. Such patterns are mapped by a scattering slit, tilted at an angle so as to increase the periodicity of the intensity pattern along it to more than the free-space wavelength, making it resolvable by diffraction limited optics. The simplicity of the method as well as its large dynamic range of measurable wavelengths make it an optimal technique to characterize the properties of plasmonic devices and high-index dielectric wavegui...

Metasurface engaged with a plasmonic spiral achieve super functional lensing

We realized metasurface spiral plasmonic lenses, mitigating efficiency and functionality issues of conventional plasmonic lenses. The lens enhances the efficiency of linear-polarization-invariant focusing and enhances even further the efficiency of high contrast, circular dichroic detection.

Silicon super-resolution in the visible

Planar Silicon waveguides provide up to 4 times wavelength compression, yielding sub-100nm focusing for visible light. Our near-field measurements for red light (671nm) show both wavelength compression (280nm) and super-focusing (80nm) to both bright and dark spots.