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.

Doubly Resonant Photonic Antenna for Single Infrared Quantum Dot Imaging at Telecommunication Wavelengths.

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) have drawn strong interest in the past for their high prospects in scientific, medical, and industrial applications. However, the full characterization of these quantum emitters is currently restricted to the visible wavelengths, and it remains a key challenge to optically probe single CQDs operating in the infrared spectral domain, which is targeted by a growing number of applications. Here, we report the first experimental detection and imaging at room temperature of single infrared CQDs operating at telecommunication wavelengths.

Plasmonic Nanoantennas Enable Forbidden Förster Dipole-Dipole Energy Transfer and Enhance the FRET Efficiency.

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) plays a key role in biochemistry, organic photovoltaics, and lighting sources. FRET is commonly used as a nanoruler for the short (nanometer) distance between donor and acceptor dyes, yet FRET is equally sensitive to the mutual dipole orientation. The orientation dependence complicates the FRET analysis in biological samples and may even lead to the absence of FRET for perpendicularly oriented donor and acceptor dipoles.

All-Dielectric Silicon Nanogap Antennas To Enhance the Fluorescence of Single Molecules.

Plasmonic antennas have a profound impact on nanophotonics as they provide efficient means to manipulate light and enhance light-matter interactions at the nanoscale. However, the large absorption losses found in metals can severely limit the plasmonic applications in the visible spectral range. Here, we demonstrate the effectiveness of an alternative approach using all-dielectric nanoantennas based on silicon dimers to enhance the fluorescence detection of single molecules.

Matching Nanoantenna Field Confinement to FRET Distances Enhances Förster Energy Transfer Rates.

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is widely applied in chemistry, biology, and nanosciences to assess distances on sub-10 nm scale. Extending the range and applicability of FRET requires enhancement of the fluorescence energy transfer at a spatial scale comparable to the donor-acceptor distances. Plasmonic nanoantennas are ideal to concentrate optical fields at a nanoscale fully matching the FRET distance range.

Large-Scale Arrays of Bowtie Nanoaperture Antennas for Nanoscale Dynamics in Living Cell Membranes.

We present a novel blurring-free stencil lithography patterning technique for high-throughput fabrication of large-scale arrays of nanoaperture optical antennas. The approach relies on dry etching through nanostencils to achieve reproducible and uniform control of nanoantenna geometries at the nanoscale, over millimeter-sizes in a thin aluminum film. We demonstrate the fabrication of over 400 000 bowtie nanoaperture (BNA) antennas on biocompatible substrates, having gap sizes ranging from (80 ± 5) nm down to (20 ± 10) nm.

Hybrid photonic antennas for subnanometer multicolor localization and nanoimaging of single molecules.

Photonic antennas amplify and confine optical fields at the nanoscale offering excellent perspectives for nanoimaging and nanospectroscopy. Increased resolution beyond the diffraction limit has been demonstrated using a variety of antenna designs, but multicolor nanoscale imaging is precluded by their resonance behavior. Here we report on the design of a novel hybrid antenna probe based on a monopole nanoantenna engineered on a bowtie nanoaperture.

Light funneling from a photonic crystal laser cavity to a nano-antenna: overcoming the diffraction limit in optical energy transfer down to the nanoscale.

We show that the near-field coupling between a photonic crystal microlaser and a nano-antenna can enable hybrid photonic systems that are both physically compact (free from bulky optics) and efficient at transferring optical energy into the nano-antenna. Up to 19% of the laser power from a micron-scale photonic crystal laser cavity is experimentally transferred to a bowtie aperture nano-antenna (BNA) whose area is 400-fold smaller than the overall emission area of the microlaser. Instead of a direct deposition of the nano-antenna onto the photonic crystal, it is fabricated at the apex of a fiber tip to be accurately placed in the microlaser near-field.

Nanophotonic approaches for nanoscale imaging and single-molecule detection at ultrahigh concentrations.

Over the last decade, we have witnessed an outburst of many different optical techniques aimed at breaking the diffraction limit of light, providing super-resolution imaging on intact fixed cells. In parallel, single-molecule detection by means of fluorescence has become a common tool to investigate biological interactions at the molecular level both in vitro and in living cells. Despite these advances, visualization of dynamic events at relevant physiological concentrations at the nanometer scale remains challenging.

A plasmonic 'antenna-in-box' platform for enhanced single-molecule analysis at micromolar concentrations.

Single-molecule fluorescence techniques are key for a number of applications, including DNA sequencing, molecular and cell biology and early diagnosis. Unfortunately, observation of single molecules by diffraction-limited optics is restricted to detection volumes in the femtolitre range and requires pico- or nanomolar concentrations, far below the micromolar range where most biological reactions occur. This limitation can be overcome using plasmonic nanostructures, which enable the confinement of light down to nanoscale volumes.

Optical horn antennas for efficiently transferring photons from a quantum emitter to a single-mode optical fiber.

We theoretically demonstrate highly efficient optical coupling between a single quantum emitter and a monomode optical fiber over remarkably broad spectral ranges by extending the concept of horn antenna to optics. The optical horn antenna directs the radiation from the emitter toward the optical fiber and efficiently phase-matches the photon emission with the fiber mode. Numerical results show that an optical horn antenna can funnel up to 85% of the radiation from a dipolar source within an emission cone semi-angle as small as 7 degrees (antenna directivity of 300).

Ultrabright bowtie nanoaperture antenna probes studied by single molecule fluorescence.

We report on a novel design for the fabrication of ultrabright bowtie nanoaperture antenna (BNA) probes to breach the intrinsic trade-off between power transmission and field confinement of circular nanoapertures as in near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) or planar zero mode waveguides. The approach relies on the nanofabrication of BNAs at the apex of tapered optical fibers tuned to diameters close to their cutoff region, resulting in 10(3)× total improvement in throughput over conventional NSOM probes of similar confinement area. By using individual fluorescence molecules as optical nanosensors, we show for the first time nanoimaging of single molecules using BNA probes with an optical confinement of 80 nm, measured the 3D near-field emanating from these nanostructures and determined a ~6-fold enhancement on the single molecule signal.

Near-field probing of slow Bloch modes on photonic crystals with a nanoantenna.

We study the near-field probing of the slow Bloch laser mode of a photonic crystal by a bowtie nano-aperture (BNA) positioned at the end of a metal-coated fiber probe. We show that the BNA acts as a polarizing nanoprobe allowing us to extract information about the polarization of the near-field of the slow-light mode, without causing any significant perturbation of the lasing process. Near-field experiments reveal a spatial resolution better than λ/20 and a polarization ratio as strong as 110.

Diabolo nanoantenna for enhancing and confining the magnetic optical field.

In this Letter, we introduce a new nanoantenna concept aimed at generating a single magnetic hot spot in the optical frequency range, thus confining and enhancing the magnetic optical field on the background of a much lower electric field. This nanoantenna, designed by applying Babinet's principle to the bowtie nanoaperture, takes the shape of a diabolo. It differs from the well-known bowtie nanoantenna in that the opposing pair of metal triangles are electrically connected through their facing tips.

Bowtie nano-aperture as interface between near-fields and a single-mode fiber.

We present the development and study of a single bowtie nano-aperture (BNA) at the end of a monomode optical fiber as an interface between near-fields/nano-optical objects and the fiber mode. To optimize energy conversion between BNA and the single fiber mode, the BNA is opened at the apex of a specially designed polymer fiber tip which acts as an efficient mediator (like a horn optical antenna) between the two systems. As a first application, we propose to use our device as polarizing electric-field nanocollector for scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM).

Bowtie-shaped nanoaperture: a modal study.

Using the N-order finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, we show that optical resonances of the bowtie nanoaperture (BNA) are due to the combination of a guided mode inside the aperture and Fabry-Perot modes along the metal thickness. The resonance of lower energy, which leads to the well-known light confinement in the gap zone, occurs at the cutoff wavelength of the fundamental guided mode. No plasmon resonance is directly involved in the generation of the light hot spot.

Full vectorial imaging of electromagnetic light at subwavelength scale.

We propose a concept of near-field imaging for the complete experimental description of the structure of light in three dimensions around nanodevices. It is based on a near-field microscope able to simultaneously map the distributions of two orthogonal electric-field components at the sample surface. From a single 2D acquisition of these two components, the complementary electric and magnetic field lines and Poynting vector distributions are reconstructed in a volume beneath the sample using rigorous numerical methods.

Polarization-dependent extraction properties of bare fiber probes.

Despite their modest spatial resolution, uncoated tapered fiber probes are now widely used by the nano-optics community for mapping, with scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), the nonradiative fields at the surface of optical and plasmonic microstructures and nanostructures. Given the significant complexity of the vectorial optical phenomena associated with subwavelength structures, the correct interpretation of SNOM acquisitions requires a complete and accurate understanding of the intrinsic image-formation procedure. In this theoretical study, we show that the SNOM imaging process with uncoated tapered fiber probes is highly polarization dependent and that the dominant effect is, surprisingly, the choice of optical fiber from which the tapered probe was fabricated.