Optical gain seen in plasmonic waveguides

July 1, 2010
Propagation of surface-plasmon polaritons with optical gain over macroscopic distances has been demonstrated in a collboration by the University of Iceland, Harvard Medical School, the University of Cologne, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering.

Propagation of surface-plasmon polaritons (SPPs) with optical gain over macroscopic distances has been demonstrated in a collboration by the University of Iceland (Reykjavik, Iceland), Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA), the University of Cologne (Cologne, Germany), and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (Jena, Germany).

To overcome the substantial ohmic losses normally seen at the plasmon-dielectric interface, the researchers fabricated symmetric dielectric-metal-dielectric waveguides supporting coupled SPP modes on the top and bottom interfaces of a metal film. Because mode confinement and propagation loss for these long-range SPP modes decreases with metal thickness, amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) for the propagating SPPs can be observed. The waveguides consisted of a 4 nm thick gold layer and a 1 µm layer of a fluorescent poly(phenylene vinylene) derivative blended with a large-bandgap poly(spirofluorene) polymer and an alkyl compound that were sandwiched between two 20 µm thick transparent polymer layers on a silicon substrate. Experiments that gradually increased 532 nm pump power to the waveguide produced ASE near 600 nm. The measured net optical gain was 8 cm-1, which corresponds to a 3000-fold signal increase after 1 cm of propagation. Contact Malte C. Gather at [email protected].

Sponsored Recommendations

Ask the Expert: Building Better Laser Micromachining Systems

Dec. 8, 2023
Dr. Cliff Jolliffe, Head of Strategic Marketing, Industrial Automation, Physik Instrumente (PI), fields questions about integrating controls for different motion systems and lasers...

Video: December 8, 2023 Photonics Hot List

Dec. 8, 2023
In this episode, we cover a microscopy method that hits uncharted cell territory, drone-based imaging for solar farm inspection, soliton microcombs that boost conversion efficiency...

China’s industrial laser market shows steady growth in turbulent times

Dec. 8, 2023
This in-depth market update focuses on trends in laser processing and industrial lasers while touching on what to expect in the ultrafast laser, fiber laser, LiDAR, and handheld...

What does it take to land venture capital for photonics-driven startups?

Dec. 7, 2023
Capital to grow a startup company can come from many sources: contract and non-recurring engineering (NRE) funding, angels and friends, customer upfront payments, and venture ...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Laser Focus World, create an account today!