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Rémi Faggiani, Jianji Yang, Richard Hostein, Philippe Lalanne
One-dimensional (1D) infinite periodic systems exhibit vanishing group velocity and diverging density of states (DOS) near band edges. However, in practice, systems have finite sizes, and inevitably, this prompts the question of whether helpful physical quantities related to infinite systems, such ... [Optica 4, 393-399 (2017)]

Authors: Farshid Vahedifard, Amir AghaKouchak, Elisa Ragno, Shahriar Shahrokhabadi, Iman Mallakpour

Author: Brent Grocholski

The cold universe is a vast but freely available heat sink that has been largely neglected in the past and has a great potential to store and dissipate the enormous waste heat we generate every day on Earth. On page 1062 of this issue, Zhai et al. develop a metamaterial—a class of engineered material with exotic properties not found in nature—to cool room-temperature objects perpetually by dumping heat to outer space through infrared (IR) thermal radiation (1). Author: Xiang Zhang

Transfer matrix method is a well-known and extensively used tool to compute the reflection and transmission coefficients of electromagnetic waves when interacting with a system of layers parallel to each other. We present here a modified form of transfer matrix method including the effects of any possible kinetic movements of layers with respect to each other with a constant velocity. We present a comprehensive analysis of the effect of velocity on the phase and amplitude of the reflection coefficient as a function of velocity. Additionally, to mimic the flow of liquids on top of layers we also present the effect of velocity gradients in the direction normal to the planar layers.

Surface plasmon waves carry an intrinsic transverse spin, which is locked to its propagation direction. Apparently, when a singular plasmonic mode is guided on a conic surface this spin-locking may lead to a strong circular polarization of the far-field emission. Specifically, an adiabatically tapered gold nanocone guides an a priori excited plasmonic vortex upwards where the mode accelerates and finally beams out from the tip apex. The helicity of this beam is shown to be single-handed and stems solely from the transverse spin-locking of the helical plasmonic wave-front. We present a simple geometric model that fully predicts the emerging light spin in our system. Finally we experimentally demonstrate the helicity-locking phenomenon by using accurately fabricated nanostructures and confirm the results with the model and numerical data.

A new technique slows down light in a crystal by simply shining a laser on it and varying an applied voltage.

[Physics] Published Tue Mar 07, 2017

The absorption process of an emitter close to a plasmonic antenna is enhanced due to strong local electromagnetic (EM) fields. The emission process, if resonant with the plasmonic system, re-radiates to the far-field by coupling with the antenna due to the availability of plasmonic states. This increases the local density of states (LDOS), effectively providing more, or alternate, pathways for emission. Through the mapping of localized emission events from single molecules close to plasmonic antennas, performed using far-field data, one gains combined information on both the local EM field strength and the LDOS available. The localization from these emission-coupled events generally do not, therefore, report the real position of the molecules, nor the EM enhancement distribution at the illuminating wavelength. Here we propose the use of a large Stokes shift fluorescent molecule in order to spectrally decouple the emission process of the dye from the plasmonic system, leaving only the absorption strongly in resonance with the enhanced EM field in the antennas vicinity. We show that the real position of the emitters in this complex, but interesting, scenario can be found directly. Moreover, we demonstrate that this technique provides an effective way of exploring either the EM field or the LDOS with nanometre spatial resolution.

A common quote about history is that "History is written by the victors". The over-simplified point is that sometimes the losers of a war are obliterated (or at least lose power) and so don't have the opportunity to tell their side of the story. In contrast, the victors want to propagate a one-sided story about their heroic win over their immoral adversaries. The origin of this quote is debatable but there is certainly a nice article where George Orwell discusses the problem in the context of World War II.

What does this have to do with teaching science?
The problem is that textbooks present nice clean discussions of successful theories and models that rarely engage with the complex and tortuous path that was taken to get to the final version.
If the goal is "efficient" learning and minimisation of confusion this is appropriate.
However, we should ask whether this is the best way for students to actually learn how to DO and understand science.

I have been thinking about this because this week I am teaching the Drude model in my solid state physics course. Because of its simplicity and success, it is an amazing and beautiful theory. But, it is worth thinking about two key steps in constructing the model; steps that are common (and highly non-trivial) in constructing any theoretical model in science.

1. Deciding which experimental observables and results one wants to describe.

2. Deciding which parameters or properties will be ingredients of the model.

For 1. it is Ohm's law, Fourier's law, Hall effect, Drude peak, UV transparency of metals, Weidemann-Franz, magnetoresistance, thermoelectric effect, specific heat, ...

For 2. one starts with only conduction electrons (not valence electrons or ions), no crystal structure or chemical detail (except valence), and focuses on averages (velocity, scattering time, density) rather than standard deviations, ...

In hindsight, it is all "obvious" and "reasonable" but spare a thought for Drude in 1900. It was only 3 years after the discovery of the electron, before people were even certain that atoms existed, and certainly before the Bohr model...

This issue is worth thinking about as we struggle to describe and understand complex systems such as society, the economy, or biological networks. One can nicely see 1. and 2. above in a modest and helpful article by William Bialek, Perspectives on theory at the interface of physics and biology.

Color filters have important applications in the area of Nano-spectroscopy and ccd imaging applications. Metallic nanostructures provide an efficient way to design and engineer ultrathin color filters. These nanostructures have capability to split the white light into fundamental colors and enable color filters with ultrahigh resolution but their efficiency can be restricted due to high losses in metals especially at the visible wavelengths. In this work, we demonstrate Si nanoantennas based all-dielectric color filters, which are sensitive to incident-wave polarization and, thus, tunable with the aid of polarization angle variation. Two different information can be encoded in two different polarization states in a single physical nanostructure. The nanoantenna based pixels are highly efficient and can provide high quality of colors due to low losses in dielectric at optical frequencies. We experimentally demonstrate that a variety of colors can be achieved by changing the physical size of the nonsymmetric cross-shaped nanoantennas. The proposed devices cover an extended gamut of colors on CIE-1931 chromaticity diagram due to the existence of high quality resonance in Si nanoantennas. The device shows significant tunability of color while operating this color filter device in transmission as well as in reflection mode.

1D lattice summations of the 3D Green's function are needed in many applications such as photonic crystals, antenna arrays, and so on. Such summations are usually divided into two cases, depending on the location of the observer: Out of the summation axis, or on the summation axis. Here, as a service for the community, we present and summarize the summation formulas for both cases. On the summation axis, we use polylogarithmic functions to express the summation, and Away from the summation axis we use Poisson summation (equivalent to the expansion of the field to cylindrical harmonics)

Our visual perception of our surroundings is ultimately limited by the diffraction limit, which stipulates that optical information smaller than roughly half the illumination wavelength is not retrievable. Over the past decades, many breakthroughs have led to unprecedented imaging capabilities beyond the diffraction-limit, with applications in biology and nanotechnology. In this context, nano-photonics has revolutionized the field of optics in recent years by enabling the manipulation of light-matter interaction with subwavelength structures. However, despite the many advances in this field, its impact and penetration in our daily life has been hindered by a convoluted and iterative process, cycling through modeling, nanofabrication and nano-characterization. The fundamental reason is the fact that not only the prediction of the optical response is very time consuming and requires solving Maxwell's equations with dedicated numerical packages. But, more significantly, the inverse problem, i.e. designing a nanostructure with an on-demand optical response, is currently a prohibitive task even with the most advanced numerical tools due to the high non-linearity of the problem. Here, we harness the power of Deep Learning, a new path in modern machine learning, and show its ability to predict the geometry of nanostructures based solely on their far-field response. This approach also addresses in a direct way the currently inaccessible inverse problem breaking the ground for on-demand design of optical response with applications such as sensing, imaging and also for plasmon's mediated cancer thermotherapy.

Printing technology based on plasmonic structures has many advantages over pigment based color printing such as high resolution, ultra-compact size and low power consumption. However, due to high losses and broad resonance behavior of metals in the visible spectrum, it becomes challenging to produce well-defined colors. Here, we investigate cross-shaped dielectric nanoresonators which enable high quality resonance in the visible spectral regime and, hence, high quality colors. We numerically predict and experimentally demonstrate that the proposed all-dielectric nanostructures exhibit high quality colors with selective wavelengths, in particular, due to lower losses as compared to metal based plasmonic filters. This results in fundamental colors (RGB) with high hue and saturation. We further show that a large gamut of colors can be achieved by selecting the appropriate length and width of individual $Si$ nanoantennas. Moreover, the proposed all-dielectric metasurface based color filters can be integrated with the well matured fabrication technology of electronic devices.

Truong Khang Nguyen, Truong Duy Le, Phuc Toan Dang, Khai Q. Le
In this paper, we numerically introduce a planar metamolecule that generates plasmonic Fano resonance. The engineered molecule consists of closely packed asymmetric gold nanodisks deposited on a glass substrate operating at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The asymmetric arrangement of ... [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 34, 668-672 (2017)]

Author: John F. Foley

Graham J. Triggs, Yue Wang, Christopher P. Reardon, Matthias Fischer, Gareth J. O. Evans, Thomas F. Krauss
Advanced biomedical diagnostic technologies fulfill an important role in improving health and well-being in society. A large number of excellent technologies have already been introduced and have given rise to the “lab-on-a-chip” paradigm. Most of these technologies, however, require ... [Optica 4, 229-234 (2017)]

Broadband absorbers are essential components of many light detection, energy harvesting, and camouflage schemes. Current designs are either bulky or use planar films that cause problems in cracking and delamination during flexing or heating. In addition, transferring planar materials to flexible, thin, or low-cost substrates poses a significant challenge. On...

All-dielectric nanophotonics is an exciting and rapidly developing area of nanooptics which utilizes the resonant behavior of high-index low-loss dielectric nanoparticles for enhancing light-matter interaction on the nanoscale. When experimental implementation of a specific all-dielectric nanostructure is an issue, two crucial factors have to be in focus: the choice of a high-index material and a fabrication method. The degree to which various effects can be enhanced relies on the dielectric response of the chosen material as well as the fabrication accuracy. Here, we make an overview of available high-index materials and existing fabrication techniques for the realization of all-dielectric nanostructures. We compare performance of the chosen materials in the visible and IR spectral ranges in terms of scattering efficiencies and Q-factors. Various fabrication methods of all-dielectric nanostructures are further discussed, and their advantages and disadvantages are highlighted. We also present an outlook for the search of better materials with higher refractive indices and novel fabrication methods enabling low-cost manufacturing of optically resonant high-index nanoparticles. We hope that our results will be valuable for researches across the whole field of nanophotonics and particularly for the design of all-dielectric nanostructures.