We show with both experiment and calculation that highly confined surface plasmon polaritons can be efficiently excited on metallic nanowires through the process of mode transformation. One specific mode in a metallic waveguide is identified that adiabatically transforms to the confined nanowire mode as the waveguide width is reduced. Phase- and polarization-sensitive near-field investigation reveals the characteristic antisymmetric polarization nature of the mode and explains the coupling mechanism.

Slow light devices such as photonic crystal waveguides (PhCW) and coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROW) have much promise for optical signal processing applications and a number of successful demonstrations underpinning this promise have already been made. Most of these applications are limited by propagation losses, especially for higher group indices. These losses are caused by technological imperfections (“extrinsic loss”) that cause scattering of light from the waveguide mode. The relationship between this loss and the group velocity is complex and until now has not been fully understood. Here, we present a comprehensive explanation of the extrinsic loss mechanisms in PhC waveguides and address some misconceptions surrounding loss and slow light that have arisen in recent years. We develop a theoretical model that accurately describes the loss spectra of PhC waveguides. One of the key insights of the model is that the entire hole contributes coherently to the scattering process, in contrast to previous models that added up the scattering from short sections incoherently. As a result, we have already realised waveguides with significantly lower losses than comparable photonic crystal waveguides as well as achieving propagation losses, in units of loss per unit time (dB/ns) that are even lower than those of state-of-the-art coupled resonator optical waveguides based on silicon photonic wires. The model will enable more advanced designs with further loss reduction within existing technological constraints.

Nano-mechanical resonators have gained an increasing importance in nanotechnology owing to their contributions to both fundamental and applied science. Yet, their small dimensions and mass raises some challenges as their dynamics gets dominated by nonlinearities that degrade their performance, for instance in sensing applications. Here, we report on the precise control of the nonlinear and stochastic bistable dynamics of a levitated nanoparticle in high vacuum. We demonstrate how it can lead to efficient signal amplification schemes, including stochastic resonance. This work contributes to showing the use of levitated nanoparticles as a model system for stochastic bistable dynamics, with applications to a wide variety of fields.

We map the complex electric fields associated with the scattering of surface plasmon polaritons by single subwavelength holes of different sizes in thick gold films. We identify and quantify the different modes associated with this event, including a radial surface wave with an angularly isotropic amplitude. This wave is shown to arise from the out-of-plane electric dipole induced in the hole, and we quantify the corresponding polarizability, which is in excellent agreement with electromagnetic theory. Time-resolved measurements reveal a time delay of 38\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}18\,\,fs between the surface plasmon polariton and the radial wave, which we attribute to the interaction with a broad hole resonance.

We study the dynamics of a laser-trapped nanoparticle in high vacuum. Using parametric coupling to an external excitation source, the linewidth of the nanoparticle's oscillation can be reduced by three orders of magnitude. We show that the oscillation of the nanoparticle and the excitation source are synchronized, exhibiting a well-defined phase relationship. Furthermore, the external source can be used to controllably drive the nanoparticle into the nonlinear regime, thereby generating strong coupling between the different translational modes of the nanoparticle. Our work contributes to the understanding of the nonlinear dynamics of levitated nanoparticles in high vacuum and paves the way for studies of pattern formation, chaos, and stochastic resonance.