Femtosecond Drift Photocurrents Generated by an Inversely Designed Plasmonic Antenna.

Photocurrents play a crucial role in various applications, including light detection, photovoltaics, and THz radiation generation. Despite the abundance of methods and materials for converting light into electrical signals, the use of metals in this context has been relatively limited. Nanostructures supporting surface plasmons in metals offer precise light manipulation and induce light-driven electron motion.

A chiral inverse Faraday effect mediated by an inversely designed plasmonic antenna.

The inverse Faraday effect is a magneto-optical process allowing the magnetization of matter by an optical excitation carrying a non-zero spin of light. This phenomenon was considered until now as symmetric; right or left circular polarizations generate magnetic fields oriented in the direction of light propagation or in the counter-propagating direction. Here, we demonstrate that by manipulating the spin density of light in a plasmonic nanostructure, we generate a chiral inverse Faraday effect, creating a strong magnetic field of 500 mT only for one helicity of the light, the opposite helicity producing this effect only for the mirror structure.

Broadband Plasmonic Nanoantennas for Multi-Color Nanoscale Dynamics in Living Cells.

Recently, the implementation of plasmonic nanoantennas has opened new possibilities to investigate the nanoscale dynamics of individual biomolecules in living cells. However, studies so far have been restricted to single molecular species as the narrow wavelength resonance of gold-based nanostructures precludes the simultaneous interrogation of different fluorescently labeled molecules. Here, broadband aluminum-based nanoantennas carved at the apex of near-field probes are exploited to resolve nanoscale-dynamic molecular interactions on living cell membranes.

An inverse Faraday effect generated by linearly polarized light through a plasmonic nano-antenna.

The inverse Faraday effect (IFE) generates magnetic fields by optical excitation only. Since its discovery in the 60 s, it was believed that only circular polarizations could magnetize matter by this magneto-optical phenomenon. Here, we demonstrate the generation of an IFE via a linear polarization of light.

Tesla-Range Femtosecond Pulses of Stationary Magnetic Field, Optically Generated at the Nanoscale in a Plasmonic Antenna.

The inverse Faraday effect allows the generation of stationary magnetic fields through optical excitation only. This light-matter interaction in metals results from creating drift currents nonlinear forces that light applies to the conduction electrons. Here, we describe the theory underlying the generation of drift currents in metals, particularly its application to photonic nanostructures using numerical simulations.