Peking University, Dec. 31, 2010: The research group led by Prof. Zhu Xin from PKU School of Physics has made major progress in the study of surface plasmon polariton (SPP), an important part of nano-optics. Their achievement was published on Dec. 27 titled “Plasmonic Focusing in Symmetry Broken Nanocorrals” in Nano Letters, a renowned international journal in the field of nano research.
The research group investigated plasmonic focusing in symmetry broken nanocorrals, and realized the regulation of SPP interference pattern under linearly polarized illumination using scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), with quick focusing the SPP-induced perpendicular electric field into a single spot at the center. They studied SPP interference within nanocorrals under radially polarized illumination and under linearly polarized illumination respectively, before establishing a wave model of the behavior of SPP within nanocorrals by using finite-difference time-domain simulations and analytical calculations, which well explained the mechanism of plasmonic focusing. This work provides new methods for the application of SPP in micro-nano optoelectronic devices.
This work was based on a series of projects in areas such as waveguide and coupler of SPP, which the research group has been devoted to in recent years. Fang Zheyu, PKU PhD candidate and the principal person for the project, has published a series of papers in international journals including ACS Nano, Physical Review B, Applied Physics Letters, and Plasmonics, which entitled him as one of the “top 10 in academics” among graduate students of PKU.
Symmetry broken nanocorrals under linearly polarized illumination
This work was a joint effort by Peking University, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Tsinghua University, and Rice University, supported by National High-tech R&D Program of Ministry of Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation, and State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics, PKU.
Translated by: Chen Long
Edited by: Jacques
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
