The subject of this project is the study of nano-scaled metal-organic plasmonic hybrid-systems in interaction with broadband femtosecond laser pulses. The investigated hybrid systems are composed of surface plasmon supporting metal nanostructures and organic nanofibers characterized by strong nonlinear characteristics and optical waveguiding properties.
In our study we plan to systematically address and control the spatio-temporal response of these hybrid devices with respect to light-coupling and light-transport. The main experimental technique that will be applied in our study is the time-resolved and interferometric two-photon photoemission electron microscopy technique which enables us to monitor the ultrafast phase- and group dynamics of localized nano-optical fields on length scales that are well below the diffraction limit.
Oligophenylene-based organic nanofibers exhibit broadband and almost loss-free optical
waveguiding properties down to wavelengths as short as 400 nm. We believe that these fibers can play a crucial role as light-channeling sub-units and highly localized, nonlinear active emitters in future ultrafast nanophotonic devices.
Publications
Deterministic Control in Subwavelength Field Localization in Plasmonic Nanoantennas
M. Aeschlimann, M. Bauer, D. Bayer, T. Brixner, S. Cunovic, A. Fischer, P. Melchior, W. Pfeiffer, M. Rohmer, C. Schneider, C. Strüber, P. Tuchscherer, D. V. Voronine
Oxford University Press, Inc. 667 (2011)
Two-Photon Photoemission of Plasmonic Nanostructures with High Temporal and Lateral Resolution
M. Bauer, D. Bayer, C. Wiemann, M. Aeschlimann
eds.Radons, Rumpf, SchusterNonlinear Dynamics of NanosystemsWhiley-VCH, Weinheim (2010)
Spatiotemporal control of nanooptical excitations
M. Aeschlimann, M. Bauer, D. Bayer, T. Brixner, S. Cunovic, F. Dimler, A. Fischer, W. Pfeiffer, M. Rohmer, C. Schneider, F. Steeb, C. Strüber, D. V. Voronine
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 107 (2010)
The most general investigation and exploitation of light-induced processes require simultaneous control over spatial and temporal properties of the electromagnetic field on a femtosecond time and nanometer length scale. Based on the combination of polarization pulse shaping and time-resolved two-photon photoemission electron microscopy, we demonstrate such control over nanoscale spatial and ultrafast temporal degrees of freedom of an electromagnetic excitation in the vicinity of a nanostructure. The time-resolved cross-correlation measurement of the local photoemission yield reveals the switching of the nanolocalized optical near-field distribution with a lateral resolution well below the diffraction limit and a temporal resolution on the femtosecond time scale. In addition, successful adaptive spatiotemporal control demonstrates the flexibility of the method. This flexible simultaneous control of temporal and spatial properties of nanophotonic excitations opens new possibilities to tailor and optimize the light–matter interaction in spectroscopic methods as well as in nanophotonic applications.
Surface plasmon polariton emission prompted by organic nanofibers on thin gold films
T. Leissner, K. Thilsing-Hansen, C. Lemke, S. Jauernik, J. Kjelstrup-Hansen, M. Bauer, H. -G. Rubahn
Plasmonics (Online First)
The excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) at a gold-vacuum interface by femtosecond light-pulses mediated by organic nanofiber-induced dielectric perturbations is observed using interferometric time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy (ITR-PEEM). The experimental data are quantitatively reproduced by analytic simulations, where the nanofibers are considered as superior source of the SPP emission. The flexibility and tuneability of phenylene-based nanofibers in their morphology and intrinsic optical properties open up future applications to fabricate custom-designed nanoscale sources of SPP’s.
