Abstract

We present studies on ultrafast interactions of multiple coherently excited surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) in waveguiding systems and on plane metal films. SPPs are excited by local scattering of laser light on surface nanostructures consisting of polymeric or metallic ridges [1]. SPP interaction and scattering effects are investigated by temporally resolved leakage radiation microscopy. This technique enables to visualize and measure time resolved behavior of propagation effects, as the Gouy phase shift along a 2D Gaussian focus [2]. Further 2D scattering effects of dielectric nanoparticles, generated with laser induced transfer [3,4], on plane metal films are presented. In addition, we demonstrate ultrafast interactions of coherently excited SPPs and light beams in complex dielectric waveguides [5]. Coherent control of SPP and light interactions further allow for the construction of ultrafast low-power SPP switches and all-optical gate structures [6]. These structures were investigated experimentally regarding their efficiency depending on their geometrical properties. The measurement results have been compared with FDTD simulations of the same structures and were used to design in figure 1 shown novel plasmonic half adders which functionality has been demonstrated experimentally [6].

© 2016 Optical Society of America