Editorial: Special Issue "Laser Synthesis and Processing of Nanostructured Materials".

The fabrication of functional nanomaterials and nanotextured surfaces assisted by spatially and temporally confined laser radiation has matured from laboratory-scale methods to application-ready technology during recent decades [...

Scattering Amplitude of Surface Plasmon Polariton Excited by a Finite Grating.

Unusual optical properties of laser-ablated metal surfaces arise from the excitation of local plasmon resonances in nano- and microstructures produced by laser-processing and from the mutual interaction of those structures through surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waves. This interaction provides a synergistic effect, which can make the optical properties of the composite nanostructure drastically different from the properties of its elements. At the same time, the prediction and analysis of these properties are hampered by the complexity of the analytical solution to the problem of SPP excitation by surface objects of arbitrary configuration.

Editorial for the Special Issue Applications of Nanomaterials in Plasmonic Sensors.

Further progress in the modern sensor industry is associated with the widespread application of new solutions and principles from the field of nanooptics and nanophotonics [...

Electrically Controlled Enrichment of Analyte for Ultrasensitive SERS-Based Plasmonic Sensors.

Recently, sensors using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detectors combined with superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic analyte concentration systems showed the ability to reach detection limits below the femto-molar level. However, a further increase in the sensitivity of these sensors is limited by the impossibility of the concentration systems to deposit the analyte on an area of less than 0.01 mm.

Analytical Calculations of Scattering Amplitude of Surface Plasmon Polaritons Excited by a Spherical Nanoantenna.

Since surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are surface waves, they cannot be excited by an incident plane wave, because free-space photons do not possess a sufficient in-plane momentum. Phase matching between the incident light and SPP can be achieved using a high-refractive-index prism, grating, or nanoantennas. In this work, we found an expression for the amplitude of SPP excited by an arbitrary 3D current distribution placed near a metal interface.