Influence of Phase-Changing Medium on Surface-Enhanced Electromagnetic Fields and Coherence Lifetime of Active Plasmonic Nanostructures
EMSL Project ID
47553
Abstract
The miniaturization of photonic circuits is critical to 21st century data processing and telecommunication technologies. Plasmonics, based on the optical properties of metallic nanostructures, holds out the promise of a next generation of super-reliable circuits that interface electronic and photonic components in a single chip. However, for plasmonics to be a viable component of next-generation optoelectronic technologies, a major hurdle needs to be overcome – the ability to modulate optical signals in highly integrated nanocircuits on ultrafast time scales. Previously, we have shown that the plasmonic response of metal nanoparticles can be modulated by exploiting the thermally induced insulator-to-metal transition in vanadium dioxide (VO2). Vanadium dioxide is the prototypical strongly correlated electron material that exhibits a reversible solid-solid phase transformation. It combines an insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) with a structural reconstruction from a monoclinic (M1) phase to a rutile (R) form at the near-room temperature of 68 degrees Celsius. More relevant technologically is the fact that switching in VO2 can also be triggered optically on an ultrafast timescale (< 100 fs) by a laser pulse. Recently however, our studies have shown that the detailed dynamics of the electromagnetic coupling between the metal nanoparticle and the VO2 depend critically on microscopic structural and dynamical properties of the metal/ phase-changing interface. Thus, we plan to study here the detail dynamics of this interface by using a combination of photoemission electron microscopy and ultrafast second-order interferometric autocorrelation measurement on tailored active hybrid plasmonic/phase-changing nanostructures. Dynamical processes such as charge injection from gold nanostructures, dephasing of the coherent electron oscillations and electron scattering at the surface will be examined in relation with the switching mechanism of the VO2 phase-transition. This will shed light not only on the dynamics of plasmon interaction with its near-field environment, but also on the effect of grain boundaries of the VO2 on the plasmonic response of the gold nanostructures. This will be crucial for domain boundary engineering and consequently the development of nanoscale devices activated by phase transitions.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2012-10-01
End Date
2014-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Co-Investigator(s)
Team Members
Related Publications
Brady NF, K Appavoo, M Seo, J Nag, RP Prasankumar, RF Haglund Jr., and DJ Hilton. "Ultrafast Dynamics of the VO2 Insulator-to-Metal Transition Observed by Nondegenerate Pump-Probe Spectroscopy." , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA. [Unpublished]
Davidson RB, JI Ziegler, G Vargas, SM Avanesyan, Y Gong, WP Hess, and RF Haglund Jr. . 2015. "Efficient Forward Second-Harmonic Generation from Planar Archimedean Nanospirals." Nanophotonics 4(1):108-113. doi:10. 1515/nanoph-2015-0002