Du Jinglei

The theoretic analysis of maskless surface plasmon resonant interference lithography by prism coupling

The use of an attenuated total reflect ion-coup ling mode of prism coated with metal film to excite the interference of the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) was proposed for periodic patterning with a resolution of subwavelength scale. High intensity of electric field can be obtained because of the coupling between SPPs and evanescence under a resonance condition, which can reduce exposure time and improve contrast. In this paper, several critical parameters for maskless surface plasmon resonant lithography are described, and the preliminary simulation based on a finite difference time-domain technique agrees well with the theoretical analysis, which demonstrates this scheme and provides the theoretical basis for further experiments.

Theoretical Analysis of Interference Nanolithography of Surface Plasmon Polaritons without a Match Layer

Interference nanolithography techniques based on long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LR-SPP) are hardly ever achieved by experiments at present. One key reason is that suitable liquid materials are difficult to find as the match layer connects the metal film and the resist. We redesign a Kretschmann−Raether structure for interference lithography. A polymer layer is coated under the metal film, and an air layer is placed between the polymer layer and the resist layer. This design not only avoids the above-mentioned question of the match layer, but also can form a soft contact between the polymer layer and the resist layer and can protect the exposure pattern. Simulation results confirm that a device with an appropriately thick polymer layer can form high intensity and contrast interference fringes with a critical dimension of about λ/7 in the resist. In addition, the fabrication of the device is very easy.

Near-Field Optical Transfer Function for Far-Field Super-Resolution Imaging

The far-field superlens based on surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) has shown great application potential, but it is difficult and time-consuming to reconstruct the far-field image. We derive a near-field optical transfer function (NOTF) of a silver slab and analyse its validity so that accurate information of nano-scale object in the near-field can be computed rapidly. The NOTF is helpful not only for analysing the super-resolution imaging process in far-field, but also for providing a track to describe the transmission of optical information from near-field to far-field by using the optical transfer functions theory only.

Multiple Wavelength-Channels in SPP Waveguides for Optical Communication

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be excited, meanwhile some peculiar optical phenomena will appear when light irradiates metal structures under some conditions. Based on photonic band gap theory, in this Letter we present a kind of SPP waveguide with multiple wavelength-channels. By using the Bragg efiect and introducing some geometric defect layers into a quasi-periodic metal heterowaveguide, the multiple SPP forbidden bands (SPFBs) in a given waveband can be generated, and the multiple SPP pass bands (SPPBs) with narrow bandwidth in each SPFB can be realized. The SPP propagation in metal heterowaveguide is calculated by FDTD and transfer matrix methods. By selecting appropriate thickness, position and the number of defect layers, two SPPBs can be achieved in the SPFBs around 1.31 and 1.55„m simultaneously.

Superscattering-enhanced narrow band forward scattering antenna*

We present a narrow band forward scattering optical antenna which is based on the excitation of distinctive whispering gallery modes(WGMs). The antenna is composed of three coaxial cylinder layers: a dielectric layer is sandwiched between a metallic core and cladding. Owing to the destructive interference between the scattering of the outer metallic cladding and the WGM in the backward direction, the power flow in the forward direction is increased. Simulation and analysis show that in proper geometry conditions, the cavity can be tuned into a superscattering state. At this state, both the zeroth and the first order of WGM are excited and contribute to the total scattering. It is shown that the power ratio(power towards backward divided by power towards forward) can be enhanced to about 27 times larger than that for a non-resonant position by the superscattering. Owing to the confinement of the cladding to WGMs, the wavelength range of effective forward scattering is considerably narrow(about 15 nm).

Analysis of waveguide structure for surface plasmon polariton interference

This paper describes a multi-reflected mode based on a narrow waveguide to enlarge the interferential area of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). A reasonable thickness of metal film is coated under the waveguide, the incident angle and the waveguide thickness are optimized in order to effectively increase interferential area. This is a key point for research into the Goos–Hanchen shift to optimize the waveguide thickness. Finally, the SPP interferential field is simulated with the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique to prove the optimized results, and indicates that not only is the interferential area enlarged, but the high contrast is also maintained. Furthermore, the mode can fabricate some specific interferential patterns by adding some modulating techniques to the waveguide. So the mode has potential application in the fabrication of sub-wavelength patterns.This paper describes a multi-reflected mode based on a narrow waveguide to enlarge the interferential area of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs).A reasonable thickness of metal film is coated under the waveguide,the incident angle and the waveguide thickness are optimized in order to effectively increase interferential area.This is a key point for research into the Goos–H¨anchen shift to optimize the waveguide thickness.Finally,the SPP interferential field is simulated with the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique to prove the optimized results,and indicates that not only is the interferential area enlarged,but the high contrast is also maintained.Furthermore,the mode can fabricate some specific interferential patterns by adding some modulating techniques to the waveguide.So the mode has potential application in the fabrication of sub-wavelength patterns.

Spatial Light Modulator Based on Surface Plasmon Polaritons for Chromatic Display

A spatial light modulator (SLM) based on surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) that can generate chromatic pattern is demonstrated. The device is composed of a waveguide with a thin silver film and an active material The simulated results show that the SLM can modulate the intensity of three different wavelengths at the same time and combine a colour picture in the image surface. The SLM also owns the characteristics of high sensitivity, high contrast, fast time response etc. This means that the SLM is promising in the chromatic display.