Polarization resolved light splitting of single plasmonic nanowire emission

Longkun Yang; Pan Li; Zhipeng Li

doi:10.1117/12.2544180

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18 December 2019 Polarization resolved light splitting of single plasmonic nanowire emission

Longkun Yang, Pan Li, Zhipeng Li

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Proceedings Volume 11336, AOPC 2019: Nanophotonics; 113360C (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2544180
Event: Applied Optics and Photonics China (AOPC2019), 2019, Beijing, China

Abstract

Crystalline metallic nanowires have been indispensable “building-blocks” to construct functional elements for future integrated nano-photonic devices and circuits. In this work, by the polarization measurements, we reveal that the propagating surface plasmons emission from a thick nanowire (D ~ 300 nm) are split into two parts: I₁ and I₂, with the polarizations nearly perpendicular to the respective emitting facets. By changing excitation polarization, splitting ratio (I₁/I₂) can be further tuned. The light splitting mechanism in this single thick nanowire is due to the interference of propagating surface plasmons modes along the nanowire, which modulates field distribution at the end facets. These findings demonstrate that single thick silver nanowire with well-defined end facets can naturally provide multiple outcoupling channels and function as a simple nanoscale polarization beam splitter. This work sheds a new light on our understanding about surface plasmons propagation and emission, and would certainly benefit the development of waveguides design and integrated plasmonic devices.

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Longkun Yang, Pan Li, and Zhipeng Li "Polarization resolved light splitting of single plasmonic nanowire emission", Proc. SPIE 11336, AOPC 2019: Nanophotonics, 113360C (18 December 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2544180

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