Catalin C. Neacsu

Near-Field Localization in Plasmonic Superfocusing: A Nanoemitter on a Tip

Focusing light to subwavelength dimensions has been a long-standing desire in optics but has remained challenging, even with new strategies based on near-field effects, polaritons, and metamaterials. The adiabatic propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) on a conical taper as proposed theoretically has recently emerged as particularly promising to obtain a nanoconfined light source at the tip. Employing grating-coupling of SPPs onto gold tips, we demonstrate plasmonic nanofocusing into a localized excitation of approximately 20 nm in size and investigate its near- and far-field behavior. For cone angles of approximately 10-20 degrees , the breakdown of the adiabatic propagation conditions is found to be localized at or near the apex region with approximately 10 nm radius. Despite an asymmetric side-on SPP excitation, the apex far-field emission with axial polarization characteristics representing a radially symmetric SPP mode in the nanofocus confirms that the conical tip acts as an effective mode filter with only the fundamental radially symmetric TM mode (m = 0) propagating to the apex. We demonstrate the use of these tips as a source for nearly background-free scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM).

Resonant-plasmon field enhancement from asymmetrically illuminated conical metallic-probe tips.

Optical-field enhancement and confinement for an asymmetrically illuminated nanoscopic Au tip suspended over a planar Au substrate is investigated both numerically and experimentally. The spatial field distribution of the tip-sample system was calculated using the full 3D finite-difference time-domain method. The calculation enables investigation of the effects of the substrate-tip placement, angle of incidence, and spectral response. The tip plasmon response leads to a significant (up to ~70 times) local field enhancement between the tip and substrate. The enhancement is found to be extremely sensitive to the tip-sample separation distance. Tip-enhanced Raman scattering experiments were performed and the numerical results provide a consistent description of the observed field localization and enhancement.

Optical nanocrystallography with tip-enhanced phonon Raman spectroscopy

Conventional phonon Raman spectroscopy is a powerful experimental technique for the study of crystalline solids that allows crystallography, phase and domain identification on length scales down to approximately 1 microm. Here we demonstrate the extension of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to optical crystallography on the nanoscale by identifying intrinsic ferroelectric domains of individual BaTiO(3) nanocrystals through selective probing of different transverse optical phonon modes in the system. The technique is generally applicable for most crystal classes, and for example, structural inhomogeneities, phase transitions, ferroic order and related finite-size effects occurring on nanometre length scales can be studied with simultaneous symmetry selectivity, nanoscale sensitivity and chemical specificity.

Light Confinement at Ultrasharp Metallic Tips

In this article, two alternative experimental strategies for reaching light confinement at metallic nanotips are discussed. Thefirst approach utilizes optical field enhancement to localize nonlinear optical signals at the tip end. The second approachemploys surface plasmon polaritons propagating coherently along the tip shaft and converging at its apex.[DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.47.6051]

Few-cycle pulse laser induced damage threshold determination of ultra-broadband optics

A systematic study of few-cycle pulse laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) determination was performed for commercially-available ultra-broadband optics, (i.e. chirped mirrors, silver mirrors, beamsplitters, etc.) in vacuum and in air, for single and multi-pulse regime (S-on-1). Multi-pulse damage morphology at fluences below the single-pulse LIDT was studied in order to investigate the mechanisms leading to the onset of damage. Stark morphological contrast was observed between multi-pulse damage sites formed in air versus those in vacuum. One effect of vacuum testing compared to air included suppression of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) formation, possibly influenced by a reduced presence of damage debris. Another effect of vacuum was occasional lowering of LIDT, which appears to be due to the stress-strain performance of the coating design during laser irradiation and under the external stress of vacuum ambience. A fused silica substrate is also examined, and a non-LIPSS nanostructuring is observed on the surface. Possible mechanisms are discussed.

Ultrahigh resolution scattering near-field vibrational microscopy with single molecule sensitivity

Scanning probe vibrational Raman microscopy with single molecule sensitivity is demonstrated. This is facilitated by unique optical antenna properties of the metallic probe tip and resulting plasmonic tip-sample coupling providing sub-10 nm spatial resolution.

Few-cycle pulse laser-induced damage of thin films in air and vacuum ambience

Laser-induced damage mechanisms were investigated for an ultra-broadband chirped mirror, as part of a systematic study of few-cycle pulse laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of widely-used ultra-broadband optics, in vacuum and in air, for single and multi-pulse regimes (S-on-1). Microscopic analysis of damage morphology suggests that three different damage mechanisms occur across the fluence range 0.15-0.4J/cm2, while no ablation was yet observed. The three regimes resulted in shallow swelling (< 10 nm tall), tall blistering (~ 150 nm tall), and annular blistering (damage suppressed at highest intensity, forming a ring shape). Descriptions of the potential mechanisms are discussed.

Dispersive mirror compressors for few-cycle laser pulses

The implementation of multilayer optics for the compression and delivery of few-cycle femtosecond pulses will be discussed in the case of several cutting-edge applications.

Tabletop generation of carrier envelope phase stabilized multi-mJ few-cycle pulses

A compact system for the generation of few-cycle multi-mJ carrier envelope phase (CEP) stabilized pulses is presented. The output 5.4 fs, 1.9 mJ pulses have CEP noise of only 190 mrad rms over seven hours.

Nano-Confined Light and Electron Sources Driven by Few-Cycle Optical Pulses

Flat and nanostructured metal nano-tips driven by sub-10 fs pulses at an 80-MHz repetition rate serve for nano-confined light and electron generation. We demonstrate control of spatial emission properties and analyze nonlinear generation processes.