Bilkent University Advanced Research Laboratories
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Surface plasmon polariton cavities

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs)7, electromagnetic surface waves propagating along metal-dielectric interface with an evanescently decaying electric field intensity into the neighboring media, show unique physical properties attracting great interest for applications in fields such as nanophotonics, spectroscopy, lithography, imaging and biosensing7-12. Selective loading of metal or a dielectric thin film on a plasmonic surface forms a plasmonic cavity which provides a lateral confinement along the propagation direction12-18. Localization of electromagnetic field in plasmonic cavities provides opportunities for new applications ranging from cavity quantum electrodynamics to nonlinear optics12-14. Metallic loss, however, limits the quality factor of the plasmonic cavities.

In this research field we are studying one and two dimensional cavity arrays made from uniform, biharmonic and Moiré surfaces. A high-Q plasmonic cavity can be achieved on metallic Moiré surfaces formed by superimposing two periodic patterns with slightly different periodicities13,16-18. We are currently studying coupling efficiency of incident light to plasmonic cavities. Using intercavity coupling as a parameter, we create conditions for traveling and standing wave configurations and observe the conditions for light coupling. Finally, we plan to study interaction of various light emitting media with such cavities with the aim to construct a plasmonic laser.

References

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  9. Anker, J. N. et al. Biosensing with plasmonic nanosensor. Nature Mater. 6, 442-453 (2008).
  10. Koller, D. M. et al. Organic plasmon-emitting diode. Nature Photon. 2, 684-687 (2008).
  11. De Leon, I. & Berini P. Amplification of long-range surface plasmons by dipolar gain medium. Nature Photon. 4, 382-387 (2010).
  12. Cubukcu, E., Kort, E. A., Crozier, K. B. & Capasso F. Plasmonic laser antenna. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 093120 (2006).
  13. Balci, S., Kocabas, A., Kocabas, C. & Aydinli, A. Localization of surface plasmon polaritons in hexagonal arrays of Moiré cavities. Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 031101 (2011).
  14. Gong, Y., & Vuckovic, J. Design of plasmon cavities for solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics applications. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 033113 (2007).
  15. Weeber, J. C. et al. Surface-plasmon hopping along coupled coplanar cavities. Phys. Rev. B 76, 113405 (2008).
  16. Kocabas, A., Senlik, S. S., & Aydinli, A. Slowing down surface plasmons on a Moiré surface. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 063901 (2009).
  17. Balci, S., Kocabas, A., Kocabas, C. & Aydinli, A. Slowing surface plasmon polaritons on plasmonic coupled cavities by tuning grating grooves. Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 131103 (2010).
  18. Balci, S., Karabiyik, M., Kocabas, A., Kocabas, C. & Aydinli, A. Coupled plasmonic cavities on Moiré surfaces. Plasmonics 5, 429-436 (2010).