arXiv subjects

Israel De Leon

Publications and source records attributed to Israel De Leon.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Individual Nanostructures in an Epsilon-Near-Zero Material Probed with 3D-Sculpted Light

Epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, i.e., materials with a vanishing real part of the permittivity, have become an increasingly desirable platform for exploring linear and nonlinear optical phenomena in nanophotonic and on-chip environments. ENZ materials inherently enhance electric fields for properly chosen interaction scenarios, host extreme nonlinear optical effects, and lead to other intriguing phenomena. To date, studies in the optical domain have mainly focused on nanoscopically thin films of ENZ materials and their interaction with light and other nanostructured materials. Here, we experimentally and numerically explore the optical response of individual nanostructures milled into an ENZ material. For the study, we employ 3D structured light beams, allowing us to fully control polarization-dependent field enhancements enabled by a tailored illumination and a vanishing permittivity. Our studies provide insight between complex near-fields and the ENZ regime while showcasing the polarization-dependent controllability they feature. Such effects can form the basis for experimental realizations of extremely localized polarization-controlled refractive index changes, which can ultimately enable ultrafast switching processes at the level of individual nanostructures.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Conditional Quantum Plasmonic Sensing

The possibility of using weak optical signals to perform sensing of delicate samples constitutes one of the main goals of quantum photonic sensing. Furthermore, the nanoscale confinement of electromagnetic near fields in photonic platforms through surface plasmon polaritons has motivated the development of highly sensitive quantum plasmonic sensors. Despite the enormous potential of plasmonic platforms for sensing, this class of sensors is ultimately limited by the quantum statistical fluctuations of surface plasmons. Indeed, the fluctuations of the electromagnetic field severely limit the performance of quantum plasmonic sensing platforms in which delicate samples are characterized using weak near-field signals. Furthermore, the inherent losses associated with plasmonic fields levy additional constraints that challenge the realization of sensitivities beyond the shot-noise limit. Here, we introduce a protocol for quantum plasmonic sensing based on the conditional detection of plasmons. We demonstrate that the conditional detection of plasmonic fields, via plasmon subtraction, provides a new degree of freedom to control quantum fluctuations of plasmonic fields. This mechanism enables improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio of photonic sensors relying on plasmonic signals that are comparable to their associated field fluctuations. Consequently, the possibility of using weak plasmonic signals to sense delicate samples, while preserving the sample properties, has important implications for molecule sensing, and chemical detection .

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Understanding the nonlinear optical response of epsilon near zero materials in the time-domain

The promise of active nanophotonics technology relies on the confinement and control of light at the nanoscale. Confinement via plasmonics, dielectric resonators, and waveguides can be complemented with materials whose optical properties can be controlled using nonlinear effects. Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) exhibit strong optical nonlinearities in their near zero permittivity spectral region, on the femtosecond time-scale. Harnessing full control over the nonlinear response requires a deeper understanding of the process. To achieve this, we develop a self-consistent time-domain model for the nonlinear optical response of TCOs and implement it into a three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain code. We compare and tune our simulation tools against recently published experimental results for intense laser irradiation of thin indium tin oxide (ITO) films. Finally, by simulating intense laser irradiation of ITO-based plasmonic metasurfaces, we demonstrate the full power of our approach. As expected, we find validating the significant enhancement of the nonlinear response of an ITO-based metasurface over bare ITO thin films. Our work thus enables quantitative nanophotonics design with epsilon-near-zero materials.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Lattice-plasmon induced asymmetric transmission in two-dimensional chiral arrays

Asymmetric transmission - direction-selective control of electromagnetic transmission between two ports - is an important phenomenon typically exhibited by two-dimensional chiral systems. Here, we study this phenomenon in chiral plasmonic metasurfaces supporting lattice plasmons modes. We show, both numerically and experimentally, that asymmetric transmission can be achieved through an unbalanced excitation of such lattice modes by circularly polarized light of opposite handedness. The excitation efficiencies of the lattice modes, and hence the strength of the asymmetric transmission, can be controlled by engineering the in-plane scattering of the individual plasmonic nanoparticles such that the maximum scattering imbalance occurs along one of the in-plane diffraction orders of the metasurface. Our study also shows that, contrary to the case of a non-diffractive metasurface, the lattice-plasmon-enabled asymmetric transmission can occur at normal incidence for cases where the metasurface is composed of chiral or achiral nanoparticles possessing 4-fold rotational symmetry.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Observation of the Modification of Quantum Statistics of Plasmonic Systems

For almost two decades, it has been believed that the quantum statistical properties of bosons are preserved in plasmonic systems. This idea has been stimulated by experimental work reporting the possibility of preserving nonclassical correlations in light-matter interactions mediated by scattering among photons and plasmons. Furthermore, it has been assumed that similar dynamics underlies the conservation of the quantum fluctuations that define the nature of light sources. Here, we demonstrate that quantum statistics are not always preserved in plasmonic systems and report the first observation of their modification. Moreover, we show that multiparticle scattering effects induced by confined optical near fields can lead to the modification of the excitation mode of plasmonic systems. These observations are validated through the quantum theory of optical coherence for single- and multi-mode plasmonic systems. Our findings constitute a new paradigm in the understanding of the quantum properties of plasmonic systems and unveil new paths to perform exquisite control of quantum multiparticle systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

High-Q plasmonic crystal laser for ultra-sensitive biomolecule detection

Plasmonic lasers provide a paradigm-changing approach for the generation of coherent light at the nanoscale. In addition to the usual properties of coherent radiation, the emission of plasmonic lasers can feature high sensitivity to the surrounding environment, which makes this technology attractive for developing high-performance and highly-integrated sensing devices. Here, we investigate a plasmonic laser architecture based on a high-Q plasmonic crystal consisting of a periodic arrangement of nanoholes on a thin gold film cladded with an organic-dye-doped SiO$_2$ gain layer as the gain material. We report an extensive full-wave numerical analysis of the device's lasing performance and its application as a biochemical sensor, showing that the proposed design features excellent figures of merit for surface sensing that in principle can be over an order of magnitude larger than those of previously reported high-performance plasmonic biosensor architectures.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Measurement of the Photon-Plasmon Coupling Phase

Scattering processes have played a crucial role in the development of quantum theory. In the field of optics, scattering phase shifts have been utilized to unveil interesting forms of light-matter interactions. Here, we investigate the mode-coupling phase of single photons to surface plasmon polaritons in a quantum plasmonic tritter. We observe that the coupling process induces a phase jump that occurs when photons scatter into surface plasmons and vice versa. This interesting coupling phase dynamics is of particular relevance for quantum plasmonic experiments. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that this photon-plasmon interaction can be modeled through a quantum-mechanical tritter. We show that the visibility of a double-slit and a triple-slit interference patterns are convenient observables to characterize the interaction at a slit and determine the coupling phase. Our accurate and simple model of the interaction, validated by simulations and experiments, has important implications not only for quantum plasmonic interference effects, but is also advantageous to classical applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Chiroptical response of a single plasmonic nanohelix

We investigate the chiroptical response of a single plasmonic nanohelix interacting with a weakly-focused circularly-polarized Gaussian beam. The optical scattering at the fundamental resonance is characterized experimentally, and the chiral behavior of the nanohelix is explained based on a multipole analysis. The angularly resolved emission of the excited nanohelix is verified experimentally and it validates the theoretical results. Further, we study the first higher-order resonance and explain the formation of chiral dipoles in both cases.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Beyond the perturbative description of the nonlinear optical response of low-index materials

We show that standard approximations in nonlinear optics are violated for situations involving a small value of the linear refractive index. Consequently, the conventional equation for the intensity-dependent refractive index, $n(I) = n_0 + n_2 I$, becomes inapplicable in epsilon-near-zero and low-index media, even in the presence of only third-order effects. For the particular case of indium tin oxide, we find that the $χ^{(3)}$, $χ^{(5)}$ and $χ^{(7)}$ contributions to refraction eclipse the linear term; thus, the nonlinear response can no longer be interpreted as a perturbation in these materials. Although the response is non-perturbative, we find no evidence that the power series expansion of the material polarization diverges.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Exotic Looped Trajectories of Photons in Three-Slit Interference

The validity of the superposition principle and of Born's rule are well-accepted tenants of quantum mechanics. Surprisingly, it has recently been predicted that the intensity pattern formed in a three-slit experiment is seemingly in contradiction with the predictions of the most conventional form of the superposition principle when exotic looped trajectories are taken into account. However, the probability of observing such paths is typically very small and thus rendering them extremely difficult to measure. In this work, we confirm the validity of Born's rule and present the first experimental observation of these exotic trajectories as additional paths for the light by directly measuring their contribution to the formation of optical interference fringes. We accomplish this by enhancing the electromagnetic near-fields in the vicinity of the slits through the excitation of surface plasmons. This process effectively increases the probability of occurrence of these exotic trajectories, demonstrating that they are related to the near-field component of the photon's wavefunction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Polarization shaping for control of nonlinear propagation

We study the nonlinear optical propagation of two different classes of space-varying polarized light beams -- radially symmetric vector beams and Poincaré beams with lemon and star topologies -- in a rubidium vapour cell. Unlike Laguerre-Gauss and other types of beams that experience modulational instabilities, we observe that their propagation is not marked by beam breakup while still exhibiting traits such as nonlinear confinement and self-focusing. Our results suggest that by tailoring the spatial structure of the polarization, the effects of nonlinear propagation can be effectively controlled. These findings provide a novel approach to transport high-power light beams in nonlinear media with controllable distortions to their spatial structure and polarization properties.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Chiral optical response of planar and symmetric nanotrimers enabled by heteromaterial selection

Chirality is an intriguing property of certain molecules, materials or artificial nanostructures, which allows them to interact with the spin angular momentum of the impinging light field. Due to their chiral geometry, they can distinguish between left- and right-hand circular polarization states or convert them into each other. Here, we introduce a novel approach towards optical chirality, which is observed in individual two-dimensional and geometrically mirror-symmetric nanostructures. In this scheme, the chiral optical response is induced by the chosen heterogeneous material composition of a particle assembly and the corresponding resonance behavior of the constituents it is built from, which breaks the symmetry of the system. As a proof of principle, we investigate such a structure composed of individual silicon and gold nanoparticles both experimentally as well as numerically. Our proposed concept constitutes a novel approach for designing two-dimensional chiral media tailored at the nanoscale.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Optical spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in ultra-thin metasurfaces with arbitrary topological charges

Orbital angular momentum associated with the helical phase-front of optical beams provides an unbounded \qo{space} for both classical and quantum communications. Among the different approaches to generate and manipulate orbital angular momentum states of light, coupling between spin and orbital angular momentum allows a faster manipulation of orbital angular momentum states because it depends on manipulating the polarisation state of light, which is simpler and generally faster than manipulating conventional orbital angular momentum generators. In this work, we design and fabricate an ultra-thin spin-to-orbital angular momentum converter, based on plasmonic nano-antennas and operating in the visible wavelength range that is capable of converting spin to an arbitrary value of OAM $\ell$. The nano-antennas are arranged in an array with a well-defined geometry in the transverse plane of the beam, possessing a specific integer or half-integer topological charge $q$. When a circularly polarised light beam traverses this metasurface, the output beam polarisation switches handedness and the OAM changes in value by $\ell = \pm2q\hbar$ per photon. We experimentally demonstrate $\ell$ values ranging from $\pm 1$ to $\pm 25$ with conversion efficiencies of $8.6\pm0.4~\%$. Our ultra-thin devices are integratable and thus suitable for applications in quantum communications, quantum computations and nano-scale sensing.

physics.optics↗