Nobel metal nanoparticles that exhibit plasmon resonances in the visible and near infrared have been of great interest in recent years. Strong light-matter interactions on the nanoscale have a range of interesting properties that may be useful in applications in medicine, sensing, solar energy harvesting and information processing. Depending on the application, particle materials and geometries can be optimized for performance. A novel method of quantifying individual nanoparticle scattering cross-sections by comparing experiments with analytical theory for gold nanospheres is proposed and utilized. Results show that elongated particles scatter very brightly for their volumes. This brightness is due to a strong longitudinal plasmon resonance that occurs in the near infrared – where gold has minimal loss. Elongated particles, such as nanorods, are therefore, ideal for applications that rely on particles scattering brightly in small spaces, such as biological imaging. Next, gold nanobelts are discussed and characterized. These novel structures are akin to nanowires, but with a small, rectangular cross-sectional geometry. Gold nanobelts are shown to exhibit a strong transverse resonance that has never been reported previously in nanowires. The transverse resonance is shown to shift linearly with crosssectional aspect ratio. Other interesting products from the nanobelt synthesis, tapered and split nanobelts, are discussed. Gold nanobelts also support longitudinal propagating plasmons, and have the smallest cross-sectional area of any elongated plasmonic structure that has been reported to do so. By analyzing the output tip signal of propagating plasmons for nanobelts of different lengths, the decay length is measured. Finite Difference Time Domain simulations and polarization measurements show the fundamental, azimuthally symmetric mode is very strong for thin structures such as these, but decays much more quickly than a higher-order mode, which begins to dominate at longer lengths. The cross-sectional mode area is given, illustrating the high confinement of plasmons in these structures. A figure of merit that takes into account both confinement and propagation length is calculated to be 1300 for the higher-order mode, the highest reported for nanoscale plasmonic waveguides. The high figure of merit makes gold nanobelts excellent candidates for studying strong coupling between plasmonic structures and objects that exhibit quantum behavior.

Integrated photonic circuits require small photonic elements. Recent progress in nanowire synthesis and nanofabrication enables us to investigate the potential of nanowires in novel integrated photonic devices. This thesis explores light manipulation on two material platforms – metallic nanostructures that support surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), and periodic dielectric arrays for mode engineering. In Chapters 2 and 3, I will show that chemically-synthesized metallic nanowires are attractive candidates to support SPPs and enhance light- matter interactions. The first model device consists of a single quantum emitter in close proximity to a highly crystalline Ag nanowire. When the quantum emitter is optically excited, its emission rate is enhanced by a factor of 2.5, and 60% of the emission couples into the Ag nanowire, generating single SPPs. In addition to optically exciting SPPs, we demonstrate an optoelectronic device that generates and detects SPPs electrically, paving the way for seamless integration between electronic and plasmonic elements in a single circuit. In Chapter 4, I present a general strategy to create stretchable and flexible photonic devices. Flexible photonics has garnered a lot of interest because mechanical properties can be exploited to generate highly conformal devices with novel optical characteristics. We fabricated Si nanowire photonic crystal cavities and transferred them into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The composite photonic crystal cavity supports high quality factor (Q) modes in the telecommunication range. We achieve mechanical reconfiguration of the cavity by stretching it, and observe tuning of the resonance wavelength over 67 nm, 134 times the resonance linewidth. The above demonstrations, when taken together, underscore the promise and potential of nanowires in integrated photonic circuits. / Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Plasmonic resonances are characterized by enhanced optical near field and subwavelength power confinement. Light is not only scattered but also simultaneously absorbed in the metal nanostructures. With proper structural design, plasmonic-enhanced light absorption can generate nanoscopically confined heat power in metallic nanostructures, which can even be temporally modulated by varying the pump light. These intrinsic characters of plasmonic nanostructures are investigated in depth in this thesis for a range of materials and nanophotonic applications.   The theoretical basis for the photothermal phenomenon, including light absorption, heat generation, and heat conduction, is coherently summarized and implemented numerically based on finite-element method. Our analysis favours disk-pair and particle/dielectric-spacer/metal-film nanostructures for their high optical absorbance, originated from their antiparallel dipole resonances.   Experiments were done towards two specific application directions. First, the manipulation of the morphology and crystallinity of Au nanoparticles (NPs) in plasmonic absorbers by photothermal effect is demonstrated. In particular, with a nanosecond-pulsed light, brick-shaped Au NPs are reshaped to spherical NPs with a smooth surface; while with a 10-second continuous wave laser, similar brick-shaped NPs can be annealed to faceted nanocrystals. A comparison of the two cases reveals that pumping intensity and exposure time both play key roles in determining the morphology and crystallinity of the annealed NPs.   Second, the attempt is made to utilize the high absorbance and localized heat generation of the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) absorber in Si thermo-optic switches for achieving all-optical switching/routing with a small switching power and a fast transient response. For this purpose, a numerical study of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer integrated with MIM nanostrips is performed. Experimentally, a Si disk resonator and a ring-resonator-based add-drop filter, both integrated with MIM film absorbers, are fabricated and characterized. They show that good thermal conductance between the absorber and the Si light-guiding region is vital for a better switching performance.   Theoretical and experimental methodologies presented in the thesis show the physics principle and functionality of the photothermal effect in Au nanostructures, as well as its application in improving the morphology and crystallinity of Au NPs and miniaturized all-optical Si photonic switching devices. / <p>QC 20140331</p>

A theoretical model with experimental verification is presented to enhance the quantum efficiency of a superconducting single-photon detector without increasing the length or thickness of the active element. The basic enhancement framework is based on: (1) Utilizing the plasmonic nature of a superconducting layer to increase the surface absorption of the input optical signal. (2) Enhancing the critical current of the nanowires by reducing the current crowding at the bend areas through optimally rounded-bend implementation. The experimental system quantum efficiency and fluctuation rates per second are assessed and compared to the proposed theoretical model. The model originated from an accurate description of the different liberation mechanisms of the nano-patterned superconducting films (vortex hopping and vortex-antivortex pairing). It is built complimentary to the existing, well-established models by considering the effects of quantum confinement on the singularities' energy states. The proposed model explains the dynamics of singularities for a wide range of temperatures and widths and describe an accurate count rate behavior for the structure. Furthermore, it explains the abnormal behaviors of the measured fluctuation rates occurring in wide nano-patterned superconducting structures below the critical temperature. In accordance to this model, it has been shown that for a typical strip width, not only is the vortex-antivortex liberation higher than the predicted rate, but also quantum tunneling is significant in certain conditions, and cannot be neglected as it has been in previous models. Also it is concluded that to satisfy both optical guiding and photon detection considerations of the design, the width and the thickness of the superconducting wires should be carefully determined in order to maintain the device sensitivity while crossing over from the current crowding to vortex-based detection mechanisms.

This thesis prompt a theoretical analysis of the hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPWG) and a TE-pass polarizer based on HPWG has been designed, fabricated and characterized. A combination of low propagation loss, high power density, and large confinement is useful for many applications. The analysis results in this thesis show that the HPWG offers a better compromise between loss and confinement as compared to pure plasmonic waveguides. Another interesting property of the HPWG is its polarization diversity. In the HPWG the transverse electric and the transverse magnetic modes reside in different layers. We have designed a very compact hybrid TE-pass polarizer using this property. The polarizer was fabricated and characterized. The device shows low insertion loss for the TE mode with a high extinction ratio at telecommunication wavelength range for a 30 µm long HPWG section. Its performance compares favorably against previously reported silicon based integrated optic TE-pass polarizers.

This thesis prompt a theoretical analysis of the hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPWG) and a TE-pass polarizer based on HPWG has been designed, fabricated and characterized. A combination of low propagation loss, high power density, and large confinement is useful for many applications. The analysis results in this thesis show that the HPWG offers a better compromise between loss and confinement as compared to pure plasmonic waveguides. Another interesting property of the HPWG is its polarization diversity. In the HPWG the transverse electric and the transverse magnetic modes reside in different layers. We have designed a very compact hybrid TE-pass polarizer using this property. The polarizer was fabricated and characterized. The device shows low insertion loss for the TE mode with a high extinction ratio at telecommunication wavelength range for a 30 µm long HPWG section. Its performance compares favorably against previously reported silicon based integrated optic TE-pass polarizers.

Optical nanoantennas have raised much interest during the past decade for their vast potential in photonics applications. This thesis investigates the response of periodic arrays of nanomonopoles and nanodipoles on a silicon substrate, covered by water, to variations of antenna dimensions. These arrays are illuminated by a plane wave source located inside the silicon substrate. Modal analysis was performed and the mode in the nanoantennas was identified. By characterizing the properties of this mode certain response behaviours of the system were explained. Expressions are offered to predict approximately the resonant length of nanomonopoles and nanodipoles, by accounting for the fringing fields at the antenna ends and the effects of the gap in dipoles. These expressions enable one to predict the resonant length of nanomonopoles within 20% and nanodipoles within 10% error, which significantly facilitates the design of such antennas for specific applications.

abstract: This thesis summarizes modeling and simulation of plasmonic waveguides and nanolasers. The research includes modeling of dielectric constants of doped semiconductor as a potential plasmonic material, simulation of plasmonic waveguides with different configurations and geometries, simulation and design of plasmonic nanolasers. In the doped semiconductor part, a more accurate model accounting for dielectric constant of doped InAs was proposed. In the model, Interband transitions accounted for by Adachi's model considering Burstein-Moss effect and free electron effect governed by Drude model dominate in different spectral regions. For plasmonic waveguide part, Insulator-Metal-Insulator (IMI) waveguide, silver nanowire waveguide with and without substrate, Metal-Semiconductor-Metal (MSM) waveguide and Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor-Insulator-Metal (MISIM) waveguide were investigated respectively. Modal analysis was given for each part. Lastly, a comparative study of plasmonic and optical modes in an MSM disk cavity was performed by FDTD simulation for room temperature at the telecommunication wavelength. The results show quantitatively that plasmonic modes have advantages over optical modes in the scalability down to small size and the cavity Quantum Electrodynamics(QED) effects due to the possibility of breaking the diffraction limit. Surprisingly for lasing characteristics, though plasmonic modes have large loss as expected, minimal achievable threshold can be attained for whispering gallery plasmonic modes with azimuthal number of 2 by optimizing cavity design at 1.55µm due to interplay of metal loss and radiation loss. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2014

Pas de résumé / Metallic nano-particles or nano-antennas (NAs) provide a strong spatial confinement down to the sub wavelength regime. However, a key challenge is to address and collect light from those nano-scale systems. The tiny active area of the NA is both an advantage for its miniaturization, and a real limit for the level of the collected signal. Therefore, one needs to reconsider how to drive efficiently such NA. Here, we propose to tackle this important issue by designing and realizing a novel nano-optical device based on the use of a photonic crystal cavity (PC cavity) to generate an efficient coupling between the external source and a NA. In this thesis, we design and realize a novel nano-optical device based on the coupling engineering of a photonic crystal (PC) cavity and a nanoantenna (NA). The research work includes nanodevice design, fabrication and characterization. The PC structures are formed in an InP-based membrane with four InAsP quantum wells are in the centre of the membrane to act as an optical gain material of laser mode. The PC structures include defect mode PC structures and Bloch mode PC structures. The bowtie NAs are placed on the backbone of the PC structures. The fabrication of the PC is done by electron beam lithography. Reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) is used to transmit the patterns of PC structures into the InP layer. The NAs are then deterministically positioned on the PC structures by a second e-beam exposure followed by a lift-off process. Overlay measurements showed that the deviation in the alignment error could be as small as 20nm.Optical properties of the hybrid structure are investigated in both far-field and near-field. The far-field measurement shows that the NA increases the lasing threshold of the PC cavity. The wavelength of the laser is also impacted. Near-field scanning optical microscopy (SNOM) has employed to investigate the near-field optical field distribution. The measurement results show that the NA modifies the mode of the structure and localizes the optical field under it. The modification depends on the position and orientation of the NA.

The fields of telecommunications and optoelectronics are under constant pressure to shrink devices and reduce power consumption. Micro-scale photonic and plasmonic structures can trap light and enhance the brightness of active emitters; thus, these types of structures are promising avenues to accomplishing the goals of miniaturization and efficiency. A deeper understanding of specific structures is important in order to gauge their suitability for specific applications. In this dissertation, two types of microstructures are explored: one-dimensional silicon photonic crystals and self-assembled indium islands. This dissertation will provide novel characterization of these structures and a description of how to utilize or compensate for the observed features. A photonic crystal can act as a tiny resonator for certain wavelengths, making it a promising structure for applications that require extremely small lasers. However, because of silicon’s indirect bandgap, a silicon photonic crystal cavity would require the addition of an active emitter to function as a light source. Attempts to incorporate erbium into these cavities, and the observation of an unusual coupling phenomenon, will be discussed. Self-assembled indium islands are plasmonic structures that can be grown via molecular beam epitaxy. In theory, these islands should be pure indium nanoantennas on top of a smooth gallium arsenide substrate. In practice, the component materials are less segregated than predicted, giving rise to unexpected hollow dome shapes and a sub-surface indium layer. Although these features were not an intended result of indium island growth, they provide information regarding the island formation process and potentially contribute additional applications.