arXiv subjects

Nicolae C. Panoiu

Publications and source records attributed to Nicolae C. Panoiu.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Computational Analysis of Dispersive and Nonlinear 2D Materials by Using a Novel GS-FDTD Method

In this paper, we propose a novel numerical method for modeling nanostructures containing dispersive and nonlinear two-dimensional (2D) materials, by incorporating a nonlinear generalized source (GS) into the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Starting from the expressions of nonlinear currents characterizing nonlinear processes in 2D materials, such as second- and third-harmonic generation, we prove that the nonlinear response of such nanostructures can be rigorously determined using two linear simulations. In the first simulation, one computes the linear response of the system upon its excitation by a pulsed incoming wave, whereas in the second one the system is excited by a nonlinear generalized source, which is determined by the linear near-field calculated in the first linear simulation. This new method is particularly suitable for the analysis of dispersive and nonlinear 2D materials, such as graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides, chiefly because, unlike the case of most alternative approaches, it does not require the thickness of the 2D material. In order to investigate the accuracy of the proposed GS-FDTD method and illustrate its versatility, the linear and nonlinear response of graphene gratings have been calculated and compared to results obtained using alternative methods. Importantly, the proposed GS-FDTD can be extended to 3D bulk nonlinearities, rendering it a powerful tool for the design and analysis of more complicated nanodevices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Surface modes in plasmonic Bragg fibers with negative average permittivity

We investigate surface modes in plasmonic Bragg fibers composed of nanostructured coaxial cylindrical metal-dielectric multilayers. We demonstrate that the existence of surface modes is determined by the sign of the spatially averaged permittivity of the plasmonic Bragg fiber, $\bar{% \varepsilon}$. Specifically, localized surface modes occur at the interface between the cylindrical core with $\bar{\varepsilon}<0$ and the outermost uniform dielectric medium, which is similar to the topologically protected plasmonic surface modes at the interface between two different one-dimensional planar metal-dielectric lattices with opposite signs of the averaged permittivity. Moreover, when increasing the number of dielectric-metal rings, the propagation constant of surface modes with different azimuthal mode numbers is approaching that of surface plasmon polaritons formed at the corresponding planar metal/dielectric interface. Robustness of such surface modes of plasmonic Bragg fibers is demonstrated too.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Quantum mechanical analysis of nonlinear optical response of interacting graphene nanoflakes

We propose a distant-neighbor quantum-mechanical (DNQM) approach to study the linear and nonlinear optical properties of graphene nanoflakes (GNFs). In contrast to the widely used tight-binding description of the electronic states that considers only the nearest-neighbor coupling between the atoms, our approach is more accurate and general, as it captures the electron-core interactions between all atoms in the structure. Therefore, as we demonstrate, the DNQM approach enables the investigation of the optical coupling between two closely separated, but chemically unbound GNFs. We also find that the optical response of GNFs depends crucially on their shape, size, and symmetry properties. Specifically, increasing the size of nanoflakes is found to shift their accommodated quantum plasmon oscillations to lower frequency. Importantly, we show that by embedding a cavity into GNFs, one can change their symmetry properties, tune their optical properties, or enable otherwise forbidden second-harmonic generation processes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Mixing of spin and orbital angular momenta via second-harmonic generation in plasmonic and dielectric chiral nanostructures

We present a theoretical study of the characteristics of the nonlinear spin-orbital angular momentum coupling induced by second-harmonic generation in plasmonic and dielectric nanostructures made of centrosymmetric materials. In particular, the connection between the phase singularities and polarization helicities in the longitudinal components of the fundamental and second-harmonic optical fields and the scatterer symmetry properties are discussed. By in-depth comparison between the interaction of structured optical beams with plasmonic and dielectric nanostructures, we have found that all-dielectric and plasmonic nanostructures that exhibit magnetic and electric resonances have comparable second-harmonic conversion efficiency. In addition, mechanisms for second-harmonic enhancement for single and chiral clusters of scatterers are unveiled and the relationships between the content of optical angular momentum of the incident optical beams and the enhancement of nonlinear light scattering is discussed. In particular, we formulate a general angular momenta conservation law for the nonlinear spin-orbital angular momentum interaction, which includes the quasi-angular-momentum of chiral structures with different-order rotational symmetry. As a key conclusion of our study relevant to nanophotonics, we argue that all-dielectric nanostructures provide a more suitable platform to investigate experimentally the nonlinear interaction between spin and orbital angular momenta, as compared to plasmonic ones, chiefly due to their narrower resonance peaks, lower intrinsic losses, and higher sustainable optical power.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Theoretical and computational analysis of second- and third-harmonic generation in periodically patterned graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers

Remarkable optical and electrical properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers, offer vast technological potential for novel and improved optoelectronic nanodevices, many of which relying on nonlinear optical effects in these 2D materials. This article introduces a highly effective numerical method for efficient and accurate description of linear and nonlinear optical effects in nanostructured 2D materials embedded in periodic photonic structures containing regular three-dimensional (3D) optical materials, such as diffraction gratings and periodic metamaterials. The proposed method builds upon the rigorous coupled-wave analysis and incorporates the nonlinear optical response of 2D materials by means of modified electromagnetic boundary conditions. This allows one to reduce the mathematical framework of the numerical method to an inhomogeneous scattering matrix formalism, which makes it more accurate and efficient than previously used approaches. An overview of linear and nonlinear optical properties of graphene and TMDC monolayers is given and the various features of the corresponding optical spectra are explored numerically and discussed. To illustrate the versatility of our numerical method, we use it to investigate the linear and nonlinear multiresonant optical response of 2D-3D heteromaterials for enhanced and tunable second- and third-harmonic generation. In particular, by employing a structured 2D material optically coupled to a patterned slab waveguide, we study the interplay between geometric resonances associated to guiding modes of periodically patterned slab waveguides and plasmon or exciton resonances of 2D materials.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Transverse Anderson localization of light near Dirac points of photonic nanostructures

We perform a comparative study of the Anderson localization of light beams in disordered layered photonic nanostructures that, in the limit of periodic layer distribution, possess either a Dirac point or a Bragg gap in the spectrum of the wavevectors. In particular, we demonstrate that the localization length of the Anderson modes increases when the width of the Bragg gap decreases, such that in the vanishingly small bandgap limit, namely when a Dirac point is formed, even extremely high levels of disorders are unable to localize the optical modes located near the Dirac point. A comparative analysis of the key features of the propagation of Anderson modes formed in the Bragg gap or near the Dirac point is also presented. Our findings could provide valuable guidelines in assessing the influence of structural disorder on the functionality of a broad array of optical nanodevices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Accurate near-field calculation in the rigorous coupled-wave analysis method

The rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) is one of the most successful and widely used methods for modeling periodic optical structures. It yields fast convergence of the electromagnetic far-field and has been adapted to model various optical devices and wave configurations. In this article, we investigate the accuracy with which the electromagnetic near-field can be calculated by using RCWA and explain the observed slow convergence and numerical artifacts from which it suffers, namely unphysical oscillations at material boundaries due to the Gibb's phenomenon. In order to alleviate these shortcomings, we also introduce a mathematical formulation for accurate near-field calculation in RCWA, for one- and two-dimensional straight and slanted diffraction gratings. This accurate near-field computational approach is tested and evaluated for several representative test-structures and configurations in order to illustrate the advantages provided by the proposed modified formulation of the RCWA.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Generation of Subwavelength Plasmonic Nanovortices via Helically Corrugated Metallic Nanowires

We demonstrate that plasmonic helical gratings consisting of metallic nanowires imprinted with helical grooves or ridges can be used efficiently to generate plasmonic vortices with radius much smaller than the operating wavelength. In our proposed approach, these helical surface gratings are designed so that plasmon modes with different azimuthal quantum numbers (topological charge) are phase-matched, thus allowing one to generate optical plasmonic vortices with arbitrary topological charge. The general principles for designing plasmonic helical gratings that facilitate efficient generation of such plasmonic vortices are derived and their applicability to the conversion of plasmonic vortices with zero angular momentum into plasmonic vortices with arbitrary angular momentum is illustrated in several particular cases. Our analysis, based both on the exact solutions for the electromagnetic field propagating in the helical plasmonic grating and a coupled-mode theory, suggests that even in the presence of metal losses the fundamental mode with topological charge m=0 can be converted to plasmon vortex modes with topological charge m=1 and m=2 with a conversion efficiency as large as 60%. The plasmonic nanovortices introduced in this study open new avenues for exciting applications of orbital angular momentum in the nanoworld.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Theory of Pulsed Four-Wave-Mixing in One-dimensional Silicon Photonic Crystal Slab Waveguides

We present a comprehensive theoretical analysis and computational study of four-wave mixing (FWM) of optical pulses co-propagating in one-dimensional silicon photonic crystal waveguides (Si-PhCWGs). Our theoretical analysis describes a very general set-up of the interacting optical pulses, namely we consider nondegenerate FWM in a configuration in which at each frequency there exists a superposition of guiding modes. We incorporate in our theoretical model all relevant linear optical effects, including waveguide loss, free-carrier (FC) dispersion and FC absorption, nonlinear optical effects such as self- and cross-phase modulation (SPM, XPM), two-photon absorption (TPA), and cross-absorption modulation (XAM), as well as the coupled dynamics of FCs and optical field. In particular, our theoretical analysis based on the coupled-mode theory provides rigorously derived formulae for linear dispersion coefficients of the guiding modes, linear coupling coefficients between these modes, as well as the nonlinear waveguide coefficients describing SPM, XPM, TPA, XAM, and FWM. In addition, our theoretical analysis and numerical simulations reveal key differences between the characteristics of FWM in the slow- and fast-light regimes, which could potentially have important implications to the design of ultra-compact active photonic devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Optically and Electrically Tunable Dirac Points and Zitterbewegung in Graphene-Based Photonic Superlattices

We demonstrate that graphene-based photonic superlattices provide a versatile platform for electrical and all-optical control of photonic beams with deep-subwavelength accuracy. Specifically, by inserting graphene sheets into periodic metallo-dielectric structures one can design optical superlattices that posses photonic Dirac points (DPs) at frequencies at which the spatial average of the permittivity of the superlattice, $\bar{ \varepsilon}$, vanishes. Similar to the well-known zero-$\bar{n}$ bandgaps, we show that these zero-$\bar{\varepsilon}$ DPs are highly robust against structural disorder. We also show that, by tuning the graphene permittivity via the optical Kerr effect or electrical doping, one can induce a spectral variation of the DP exceeding \SI{30}{\nano\meter}, at mid-IR and THz frequencies. The implications of this wide tunability for the photonic Zitterbewegung effect in a vicinity of the DP are explored too.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Nonlinear generalized source method for modeling second-harmonic generation in diffraction gratings

We introduce a versatile numerical method for modeling light diffraction in periodically patterned photonic structures containing quadratically nonlinear non-centrosymmetric optical materials. Our approach extends the generalized source method to nonlinear optical interactions by incorporating the contribution of nonlinear polarization sources to the diffracted field in the algorithm. We derive the mathematical formalism underlying the numerical method and introduce the Fourier-factorization suitable for nonlinear calculations. The numerical efficiency and runtime characteristics of the method are investigated in a set of benchmark calculations: the results corresponding to the fundamental frequency are compared to those obtained from a reference method and the beneficial effects of the modified Fourier-factorization rule on the accuracy of the nonlinear computations is demonstrated. In order to illustrate the capabilities of our method, we employ it to demonstrate strong enhancement of second-harmonic generated in one- and two-dimensional optical gratings resonantly coupled to a slab waveguide. Our method can be easily extended to other types of nonlinear optical interactions by simply incorporating the corresponding nonlinear polarization sources in the algorithm.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Wavelength conversion and parametric amplification of optical pulses via quasi-phase-matched FWM in long-period Bragg silicon waveguides

We present a theoretical analysis supported by comprehensive numerical simulations of quasi phase-matched four-wave mixing (FWM) of ultrashort optical pulses that propagate in weakly width-modulated silicon photonic nanowire gratings. Our study reveals that, by properly designing the optical waveguide such that the interacting pulses co-propagate with the same group-velocity, a conversion efficiency enhancement of more than 15 dB, as compared to a uniform waveguide, can readily be achieved. We also analyze the dependence of the conversion efficiency and FWM gain on the pulse width, time delay, walk-off parameter, and grating modulation depth.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Anderson Localization at the Subwavelength Scale and Loss Compensation for Surface-Plasmon Polaritons in Disordered Arrays of Metallic Nanowires

Using a random array of coupled metallic nanowires as a generic example of disordered plasmonic systems, we demonstrate that the structural disorder induces localization of light in these nanostructures at a deep-subwavelength scale. The ab initio analysis is based on solving the complete set of 3D Maxwell equations. We find that random variations of the radius of coupled plasmonic nanowires are sufficient to induce the Anderson localization (AL) of surface-plasmon polaritons (SPPs), the size of these trapped modes being significantly smaller than the wavelength. Remarkably, the optical-gain coefficient, needed to compensate losses in the plasmonic components of the system, is much smaller than the loss coefficient of the metal, which is obviously beneficial for the realization of the AL in plasmonic nanostructures. The dynamics of excitation and propagation of the Anderson-localized SPPs are addressed too.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Nonlinear Surface-Plasmon Whispering-Gallery Modes in Metallic Nanowire Cavities

We demonstrate that the surface second-harmonic generation can lead to the formation of nonlinear plasmonic whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) in microcavities made of metallic nanowires. Since these WGMs are excited by induced surface nonlinear dipoles, they can be generated even when they are not coupled to the radiation continuum. Consequently, the quality factor of these nonlinear modes can be as large as the theoretical limit imposed by the optical losses in the metal. Remarkably, our theoretical analysis shows that nonlinear plasmonic WGMs are characterized by fractional azimuthal modal numbers. This suggests that the plasmonic cavities investigated here can be used to generate multi-color optical fields with fractional angular momentum. Applications to plasmonic sensors are also discussed.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Generation of parabolic similaritons in tapered silicon photonic wires: comparison of pulse dynamics at telecom and mid-IR wavelengths

We study the generation of parabolic self-similar optical pulses in tapered Si photonic nanowires (Si-PhNWs) both at telecom (λ=1.55 μm) and mid-IR (λ=2.2 μm) wavelengths. Our computational study is based on a rigorous theoretical model, which fully describes the influence of linear and nonlinear optical effects on pulse propagation in Si-PhNWs with arbitrarily varying width. Numerical simulations demonstrate that, in the normal dispersion regime, optical pulses evolve naturally into parabolic pulses upon propagating in millimeter-long tapered Si-PhNWs, with the efficiency of this pulse reshaping process being strongly dependent on the spectral and pulse parameter regime in which the device operates, as well as the particular shape of the Si-PhNW.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2006

Semi-discrete composite solitons in arrays of quadratically nonlinear waveguides

We demonstrate that an array of discrete waveguides on a slab substrate, both featuring the $χ^{2}$ nonlinearity, supports stable solitons composed of discrete and continuous components. Two classes of fundamental composite solitons are identified: ones consisting of a discrete fundamental-frequency (FF) component in the waveguide array, coupled to a continuous second-harmonic (SH) component in the slab waveguide, and solitons with an inverted FF/SH structure. Twisted bound states of the fundamental solitons are found too. In contrast with usual systems, the \emph{intersite-centered} fundamental solitons and bound states with the twisted continuous components are stable, in an almost entire domain of their existence.

nlin.PS↗