arXiv subjects

Jean-Paul Hugonin

Publications and source records attributed to Jean-Paul Hugonin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Expanding RCWA capabilities with advanced S-matrix algorithms

Modal methods are particularly well suited to layered photonic structures because electromagnetic propagation within each layer is described analytically. Here, we introduce a simple reformulation of the scattering-matrix (S-matrix) approach in which the S-matrix is defined as an intrinsic property of an individual layer, independently of its neighboring interfaces. This separation between layer propagation and interface coupling preserves the numerical stability of the conventional S-matrix formalism while providing a more modular description of multilayer structures. It also enables direct computation of the scattering coefficients between external plane waves and Bloch modes, as well as between Bloch modes themselves, providing generalized Fresnel coefficients for periodic interfaces. In addition, the reformulation allows the optical response to be evaluated simultaneously for many layer thicknesses or incident wavevectors, with only a modest computational overhead compared with a single calculation. Implemented in the RETICOLO freeware, these capabilities provide a practical framework for modal analysis, parameter sweeps, and the design of layered photonic structures.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

A dressed polarizability framework for interface-coupled meta-atoms and large-scale metasurfaces

The modeling of large collections of interacting meta-atoms remains a central challenge in photonics because it requires the simultaneous treatment of complex scatterer geometries, multiple scattering, and heterogeneous environments. Here, we introduce the dressed Global Polarizability Matrix (dGPM), a reduced-order electromagnetic framework in which complex meta-atoms are represented by compact scattering operators that explicitly incorporate the influence of nearby interfaces. The dGPM accurately reconstructs near- and far-field electromagnetic responses for interface-coupled structures, including geometries beyond the practical applicability of conventional T-matrix approaches. The framework naturally combines interface-coupled and free-space scatterers within a unified multiple-scattering formalism and enables simulations of large ordered and disordered metasurfaces. More broadly, the dGPM extends operator-based electromagnetic modeling to heterogeneous photonic environments while preserving a compact scatterer-based representation, providing an efficient framework for the simulation and design of large-scale photonic systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Optical excitation of bulk plasmons in n-doped InAsSb thin films : investigating the second viscosity in electron gas

We demonstrate that including the second viscosity of an electron gas in the hydrodynamic model allows for highly accurate modeling of the optical response of heavily doped semiconductors. In our setup, which improves resonance visibility compared to previous approaches, plasmon resonances become more distinct, allowing for a detailed analysis of the underlying physics. With advanced fitting techniques based on a physics-informed cost function and a tailored optimization algorithm, we obtain a close agreement between simulations and experimental data across different sample thicknesses. This enhanced resonance visibility, combined with our integrated approach, shows that key parameters such as doping level and effective electron mass, as well as the second viscosity of the electron gas, can be retrieved from a single optical measurement. The spatial dispersion taken into account in the hydrodynamic framework is essential for accurately describing the optical response of plasmonic materials in this frequency range and is likely to become a standard modeling approach.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Nanometer-scale Cavities for Mid-infrared Radiation via Image Phonon Polariton Resonators

Surface-polaritons play a pivotal role in strong light-matter interactions at the nanoscale due to their ability to confine light to deep subwavelength dimensions. A promising class of materials exhibiting such polaritonic response are polar dielectrics, which support surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs). While SPhPs offer significantly lower losses compared to other polaritons, their potential has been underutilized due to limited ability to reach large continent factors. Here, we demonstrate a system composed of silver nanocubes deposited on a SiC polar dielectric, which experimentally realizes the antisymmetric-image-phonon-polaritons (AIPhPs) mode: a hybridized SPhPs mode that can confine mid-infrared radiation to extremely small mode-volumes, almost a billion times smaller than their free-space volume, with quality-factors an order-of-magnitude greater than those of surface-plasmons or graphene-plasmons, surpassing values of 180. Our method is general, scalable, and applicable to any polar dielectric, opening the path for controlling and manipulating strong light-matter interactions at the nanoscale in the long-wavelength range.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Chiral TeraHertz surface plasmonics

Chiral engineering of TeraHertz (THz) light fields and the use of the handedness of light in THz light-matter interactions promise many novel opportunities for advanced sensing and control of matter in this frequency range. Unlike previously explored methods, this is achieved here by leveraging the chiral properties of highly confined THz surface plasmon modes. More specifically, we design ultrasmall surface plasmonic-based THz cavities and THz metasurfaces that display significant and adjustable chiral behavior under modest magnetic fields (B<500mT). For such a prototypical example of non-hermitian and dispersive photonic system, we demonstrate the capacity to magnetic field-tune both the poles and zeros of cavity resonances, the two fundamental parameters governing their resonance properties. Alongside the observed handedness-dependent cavity frequencies, this highlights the remarkable ability to engineer chiral and tunable radiative couplings for THz resonators and metasurfaces. The extensive tunability offered by the surface plasmonic approach paves the way for the development of agile and multifunctional THz metasurfaces as well as the realization of ultrastrong chiral light-matter interactions at low energy in matter with potential far-reaching applications for the design of material properties.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

2D silver-nanoplatelets metasurface for bright directional photoluminescence, designed with the local Kirchhoff's law

Semiconductor colloidal nanocrystals are excellent light emitters in terms of efficiency and spectral control. Integrating them with a metasurface would pave the way to ultrathin photoluminescent devices with reduced amount of active material and performing complex functionalities such as beam shaping or polarization control. To design such a metasurface, a quantitative model of the emitted power is needed. Here, we report the design, fabrication and characterization of a $\approx$ 300 nm thick light-emitting device combining a plasmonic metasurface with an ensemble of nanoplatelets. The source has been designed with a new methodology based on a local form of Kirchhoff's law. The source displays record high directionality and brightness.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Generalized electromagnetic theorems for non-local plasmonics

The ultraconfined light of plasmonic modes put their effective wavelength close to the mean free path of electrons inside the metal electron gas. The Drude model, which can not take the repulsive interactions of electrons into account, then clearly begins to show its limits. In an intermediate length scale where a full quantum treatment is computationally prohibitive, the semiclassical hydrodynamic model, instrinsically non-local, has proven successful. Here we generalize the expression for the absorption volume density and the reciprocity theorem in the framework of this hydrodynamic model. We validate numerically these generalized theorems and show that using classical expressions instead leads to large discrepancies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Upper bound for light absorption assisted by a nanoantenna

We study light absorption by a dipolar absorber in a given environment, which can be a nanoantenna or any complex inhomogeneous medium. From first-principle calculations, we derive an upper bound for the absorption, which decouples the impact of the environment from the one of the absorber. Since it is an intrinsic characteristic of the environment regardless of the absorber, it provides a good figure of merit to compare the ability of different systems to enhance absorption. We show that, in the scalar approximation, the relevant parameter is not the field enhancement but the ratio between the field enhancement and the local density of states. Consequently, a plasmonic structure supporting hot spots is not necessarily the best choice to enhance absorption. We also show that our theoretical results can be applied beyond the scalar approximation and the plane-wave illumination.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Far-field Excitation of Single Graphene Plasmon Cavities with Ultra-compressed Mode-volumes

Acoustic-graphene-plasmons (AGPs) are highly confined electromagnetic modes, carrying large momentum and low loss in the mid-infrared/Terahertz spectra. Owing to their ability to confine light to extremely small dimensions, they bear great potential for ultra-strong light-matter interactions in this long wavelength regime, where molecular fingerprints reside. However, until now AGPs have been restricted to micron-scale areas, reducing their confinement potential by several orders-of-magnitude. Here, by utilizing a new type of graphene-based magnetic-resonance, we realize single, nanometric-scale AGP cavities, reaching record-breaking mode-volume confinement factors of $\thicksim5\cdot10^{-10}$. This AGP cavity acts as a mid-infrared nanoantenna, which is efficiently excited from the far-field, and electrically tuneble over an ultra-broadband spectrum. Our approach provides a new platform for studying ultra-strong-coupling phenomena, such as chemical manipulation via vibrational-strong-coupling, and a path to efficient detectors and sensors, in this challenging spectral range.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Global polarizability matrix method for efficient modeling of light scattering by dense ensembles of non-spherical particles in stratified media

We introduce a numerical method that enables efficient modelling of light scattering by large, disordered ensembles of non-spherical particles incorporated in stratified media, including when the particles are in close vicinity to each other, to planar interfaces and/or to localized light sources. The method consists in finding a small set of fictitious polarizable elements -- or numerical dipoles -- that quantitatively reproduces the field scattered by an individual particle for any excitation and at an arbitrary distance from the particle surface. The set of numerical dipoles is described by a global polarizability matrix that is determined numerically by solving an inverse problem relying on fullwave simulations. The latter are classical and may be performed with any Maxwell's equations solver. Spatial non-locality is an important feature of the numerical dipoles set, providing additional degrees of freedom compared to classical coupled dipoles to reconstruct complex scattered fields. Once the polarizability matrix describing scattering by an individual particle is determined, the multiple scattering problem by ensembles of such particles in stratified media can be solved using a Green tensor formalism and only few numerical dipoles, thereby with a low physical memory usage, even for dense systems in close vicinity to interfaces. The performance of the method is studied with the example of large high-aspect-ratio high-index dielectric cylinders. The method is easy to implement and may offer new possibilities for the study of complex nanostructured surfaces, which are becoming widespread in emerging photonic technologies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Bound states in the continuum in symmetric and asymmetric photonic crystal slabs

We develop a semi-analytical model to describe bound states in the continuum (BICs) in photonic crystal slabs. We model leaky modes supported by photonic crystal slabs as a transverse Fabry-Perot resonance composed of a few propagative Bloch waves bouncing back and forth vertically inside the slab. This multimode Fabry-Perot model accurately predicts the existence of BICs and their positions in the parameter space. We show that, regardless of the slab thickness, BICs cannot exist below a cut-off frequency, which is related to the existence of the second-order Bloch wave in the photonic crystal. Thanks to the semi-analyticity of the model, we investigate the dynamics of BICs with the slab thickness in symmetric and asymmetric photonic crystal slabs. We evidence that the symmetry-protected BICs that exist in symmetric structures at the Γ-point of the dispersion diagram can still exist when the horizontal mirror symmetry is broken, but only for particular values of the slab thickness.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Extreme multiexciton emission from deterministically assembled single emitter subwavelength plasmonic patch antennas

Plasmonic antennas are attractive optical structures for many applications in nano and quantum technologies. By providing enhanced interaction between a nanoemitter and light, they efficiently accelerate and direct spontaneous emission. One challenge, however, is the precise nanoscale positioning of the emitter in the structure. Here we present a laser etching protocol that deterministically positions a single colloidal CdSe/CdS core/shell quantum dot emitter inside a subwavelength plasmonic patch antenna with three-dimensional nanoscale control. By exploiting the properties of metal-insulator-metal structures at the nanoscale, the fabricated single emitter antenna exhibits an extremely high Purcell factor (>72) and brightness enhancement by a factor of 70. Due to the unprecedented quenching of Auger processes and the strong acceleration of multiexciton emission, more than 4 photons per pulse can be emitted by a single quantum dot. Our technology permits the fabrication of bright room-temperature single-emitter sources emitting either multiple or single photons.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Light interaction with photonic and plasmonic resonances

In this Review, the theory and applications of optical micro and nanoresonators are presented from the underlying concept of their natural resonances, the so-called quasi-normal modes (QNMs). The latter are the basic constituents governing the response of resonators. Characterized by complex frequencies, QNMs are initially loaded by a driving field and then decay exponentially in time due to power leakage or absorption. Here, the use of QNM-expansion formalisms to model these basic effects is explored. Such modal expansions that operate at complex frequencies distinguish from the current user habits in electromagnetic modeling, which rely on classical Maxwell equation solvers operating at real frequencies or in the time domain; they also bring much deeper physical insight into the analysis. An extensive overview of the historical background on QNMs in electromagnetism and a detailed discussion of recent relevant theoretical and numerical advances are therefore presented. Additionally, a concise description of the role of QNMs on a number of examples involving electromagnetic resonant fields and matter, including the interaction between quantum emitters and resonators (Purcell effect, weak and strong coupling, superradiance...), Fano interferences, the perturbation of resonance modes, and light transport and localization in disordered media is provided.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Non-Local Control of Single Surface Plasmon

Quantum entanglement is a stunning consequence of the superposition principle. This universal property of quantum systems has been intensively explored with photons, atoms, ions and electrons. Collective excitations such as surface plasmons exhibit quantum behaviors. For the first time, we report an experimental evidence of non-local control of single plasmon interferences through entanglement of a single plasmon with a single photon. We achieved photon-plasmon entanglement by converting one photon of an entangled photon pair into a surface plasmon. The plasmon is tested onto a plasmonic platform in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. A projective measurement on the polarization of the photon allows the non-local control of the interference state of the plasmon. Entanglement between particles of various natures paves the way to the design of hybrid systems in quantum information networks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Coalescence and anti-coalescence of surface plasmons on a lossy beamsplitter

Surface plasma waves are collective oscillations of electrons that propagate along a metal-dielectric interface. In the last ten years, several groups have reproduced fundamental quantum optics experiments with surface plasmons. Observation of single-plasmon states, waveparticle duality, preservation of entanglement of photons in plasmon-assisted transmission, and more recently, two-plasmon interference have been reported. While losses are detrimental for the observation of squeezed states, they can be seen as a new degree of freedom in the design of plasmonic devices, thus revealing new quantum interference scenarios. Here we report the observation of two-plasmon quantum interference between two freely-propagating, non-guided SPPs interfering on lossy plasmonic beamsplitters. As discussed in the article "Quantum optics of lossy beam splitters" by Barnett et al. (Phys. Rev. A 57, 2134 (1998)) , the presence of losses (scattering or absorption) relaxes constraints on the reflection and transmission factors of the beamsplitter, allowing the control of their relative phase. By using this degree of freedom, we are able to observe either coalescence or anticoalescence of identical plasmons.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

True thermal antenna with hyperbolic metamaterials

A thermal antenna is an electromagnetic source which emits in its surrounding, a spatially coherent field in the infrared frequency range. Usually, its emission pattern changes with the wavelength so that the heat flux it radiates is weakly directive. Here, we show that a class of hyperbolic materials, possesses a Brewster angle which is weakly dependent on the wavelength, so that they can radiate like a true thermal antenna with a highly directional heat flux. The realization of these sources could open a new avenue in the field of thermal management in far-field regime.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Interaction between atoms and slow light: a waveguide-design study

The emerging field of on-chip integration of nanophotonic devices and cold atoms offers extremely-strong and pure light-matter interaction schemes, which may have profound impact on quantum information science. In this context, a long-standing obstacle is to achieve strong interaction between single atoms and single photons, while at the same time trap atoms in vacuum at large separation distances from dielectric surfaces. In this work, we study new waveguide geometries that challenge these conflicting objectives. The designed photonic crystal waveguide is expected to offer a good compromise, which additionally allows for easy manipulation of atomic clouds around the structure, while being tolerant to fabrication imperfections.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Near-to-far field transformations for radiative and guided waves

Light emitters or scatterers embedded in stratified media may couple energy to both free space modes and guided modes of the stratified structure. For a comprehensive analysis, it is important to evaluate the angular intensity distribution of both the free-space modes and guided modes excited in such systems. In the present work, we propose an original method based on Lorentz-reciprocity theorem to efficiently calculate the free-space and guided radiation diagrams with a high accuracy from the sole knowledge of the near-field around the emitters or scatterers. Compared to conventional near-to-far field transformation techniques, the proposal allows one to easily evaluate the guided-mode radiation diagrams, even if material dissipation is present in the stack, and thus to simultaneously track the coupling of light to all channels (i.e., free-space and guided-ones). We also provide an open-source code that may be used with essentially any Maxwell's equation solver. The numerical tool may help to engineer various devices, such as light-emitting diodes or nanoantennas to achieve directional and efficient radiative spontaneous decays in free space and guided optics.

physics.optics↗