H. Aknin | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Controlling X-ray emission with dispersion-engineered surface plasmon polaritons

We propose controlling the angular and spectral distribution of hard x-ray emission by entangling x-ray photons with ultraviolet surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) whose dispersion is engineered by a metal-dielectric multilayer on a nonlinear crystal. Spontaneous parametric down-conversion of an x-ray pump produces a hard x-ray signal photon correlated with an ultraviolet SPP mode near its resonance. Engineering the SPPs dispersion reshapes the phase-matching landscape and imprints tunable angular-spectral structure on the emitted x-ray photons. The scheme enables compact, designable control of x-ray emission and extends surface-plasmon-assisted nonlinear and quantum x-ray optics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Surface Plasmon-Enhanced X-ray Ultraviolet Nonlinear Interactions

X ray matter interactions are intrinsically weak, and the high energy and momentum of X rays pose significant challenges to applying strong light matter coupling techniques that are highly effective at longer wavelengths for controlling and manipulating radiation. Techniques such as enhanced coupling between light and electrons at a metal dielectric interface or within nanostructures, as well as the Purcell effect where spontaneous emission is amplified near a metallic surface are not applicable to X rays due to their fundamentally different energy and momentum scales. Here we present a novel approach for coupling X rays to surface plasmon polaritons by entangling X ray photons with SPPs in the ultraviolet range through X ray to UV spontaneous parametric down conversion in aluminum. The distinct characteristics of the SPPs are imprinted onto the angular and energy dependence of the detected X ray photons, as demonstrated in this work. Our results highlight the potential to control X rays using SPPs, unlocking exciting opportunities to enhance X ray matter interactions and explore plasmonic phenomena with atomic scale resolution a capability uniquely enabled by X rays.

physics.optics↗