Directional Coupling to a λ/5000 Nanowaveguide.

Silicon-based microdevices are considered promising candidates for consolidating several terahertz technologies into a common and practical platform. The practicality stems from the relatively low loss, device compactness, ease of fabrication, and wide range of available passive and active functionalities. Nevertheless, typical device footprints are limited by diffraction to several hundreds of micrometers, which hinders emerging nanoscale applications at terahertz frequencies.

Subwavelength terahertz imaging via virtual superlensing in the radiating near field.

Imaging with resolutions much below the wavelength λ - now common in the visible spectrum - remains challenging at lower frequencies, where exponentially decaying evanescent waves are generally measured using a tip or antenna close to an object. Such approaches are often problematic because probes can perturb the near-field itself. Here we show that information encoded in evanescent waves can be probed further than previously thought, by reconstructing truthful images of the near-field through selective amplification of evanescent waves, akin to a virtual superlens that images the near field without perturbing it.

Plasmonic Sensors beyond the Phase Matching Condition: A Simplified Approach.

The conventional approach to optimising plasmonic sensors is typically based entirely on ensuring phase matching between the excitation wave and the surface plasmon supported by the metallic structure. However, this leads to suboptimal performance, even in the simplest sensor configuration based on the Otto geometry. We present a simplified coupled mode theory approach for evaluating and optimizing the sensing properties of plasmonic waveguide refractive index sensors.

Direct growth of monolayer MoS on nanostructured silicon waveguides.

We report for the first time the direct growth of molybdenum disulfide (MoS) monolayers on nanostructured silicon-on-insulator waveguides. Our results indicate the possibility of utilizing the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) on nanostructured photonic devices in a scalable process. Direct growth of 2D material on nanostructures rectifies many drawbacks of the transfer-based approaches.

Bend losses in flexible polyurethane antiresonant terahertz waveguides.

One important shortcoming of terahertz technology is the relative absence of convenient, flexible, and reconfigurable waveguides with low attenuation and small bend losses. While recent years have been marked by remarkable progress in lowering the impact of material losses using hollow-core guidance, such waveguides often have centimeter-scale diameter and are therefore not flexible. Here we experimentally and numerically investigate antiresonant dielectric waveguides made of thermoplastic polyurethane, a commonly used dielectric with a low Young's modulus.