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arXiv:0805.1739 · Physical Review Letters

Coherent Control of Low Loss Surface Polaritons

Ali A. Kamli, Sergey A. Moiseev, Barry C. Sanders

Published Dec 22, 2008• 64 citations
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Abstract

We propose fast all-optical control of surface polaritons by placing an electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) medium at an interface between two materials. EIT provides longitudinal compression and a slow group velocity, while matching properties of the two materials at the interface provides strong transverse confinement. In particular, we show that an EIT medium near the interface between a dielectric and a negative-index metamaterial can establish tight longitudinal and transverse confinement plus extreme slowing of surface polaritons, in both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations, while simultaneously avoiding losses.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.101.263601

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We propose fast all-optical control of surface polaritons by placing an electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) medium at an interface between two materials. EIT provides longitudinal compression and a slow group velocity, while matching properties of the two materials at the interface provides strong transverse confinement. In particular, we show that an EIT medium near the interface between a dielectric and a negative-index metamaterial can establish tight longitudinal and transverse confinement plus extreme slowing of surface polaritons, in both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations, while simultaneously avoiding losses.
Surface polaritons (SP) are electromagnetic waves that propagate near the interface of two media with electric field amplitudes strongly decaying with distance from the interface. The two media could be left-handed with both the electric permittivity and magnetic permeability being negative. These media give us new possibilities of slow light control [1,2]. Here we propose to control SP mode propagation in left-handed materials using SP-SP induced transparency. In the proposed scheme, the spatially confined SP interacts with three level lambda type atoms near the surface. An expression for the complex absorption coefficient in the presence of additional control SP mode is derived. We demonstrate a new specific spectral behavior of the probe SP mode propagation that are determined by the spatial properties of interaction between the SP modes and three level atoms. Optimal conditions for the SP mode control will be discussed.
Optical materials exhibit significant losses over the resonance frequency of their constituent atoms and so they are practically implemented at frequencies far from resonances. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) provides a method for effective suppression of optical loss in a narrow window over the resonance, where the medium exhibits significant dispersion but at the expense of zero susceptibility. The classical or plasmonic analogs of the EIT effect are introduced and widely used in the context of electromagnetic or optical metamaterials (MMs). In another interesting phenomenon in quantum optics known as enhancement of index of refraction (EIR), the optical loss of the medium can be zero or even negative at the region of maximal susceptibility and negligible dispersion. This condition is interesting for applications where a strong electromagnetic response of the medium with negligible loss is required, such as zero- or negative-index metamaterials (MMs). Here we introduce a plasmonic analog of the EIR which allows for coherent control over the polarizability and absorption of plasmonic nanoantennas. It can open up the way for loss-compensated propagation of optical waves in zero-index to high-refractive-index plasmonic MMs. The scheme also offers an approach to all-optical switching and coherent control of transmission, diffraction, and polarization conversion properties of plasmonic nanostructures, as well as propagation properties of surface plasmon polaritons on metasurfaces.
Metamaterials, which are materials engineered to possess novel optical properties, have been increasingly studied. The ability to fabricate metamaterials has sparked an interest in determining possible applications. We investigate using a metamaterial for boundary engineering in waveguides. A metamaterial-clad cylindrical waveguide is used to provide confinement for an optical signal, thereby increasing the local electromagnetic energy density. We show that metamaterial-clad waveguides have unique optical properties, including new modes, which we call hybrid modes. These modes have properties of both ordinary guided modes and surface plasmon-polariton modes. We show that for certain metamaterial parameters, the surface plasmon-polariton modes of a metamaterial-clad waveguide have less propagation loss than those of a metal-clad guide with the same permittivity. This low-loss mode is exploited for all-optical control of weak fields. Embedding three-level Λ atoms in the dielectric core of a metamaterial-clad waveguide allows the use of electromagnetically induced transparency to control an optical signal. Adjusting the pump field alters the group velocity of the signal, thereby controllably delaying pulses. Using the low-loss surface mode of a metamaterial-clad guide reduces losses by 20% over a metal cladding without sacrificing the group velocity reduction or confinement. In addition, we show that losses can be reduced by as much as 40% with sufficient reduction of the magnetic damping constant of the metamaterial. As this work aims for applications, practical considerations for fabricating and testing metamaterial-clad waveguides are discussed. An overview of the benefits and drawbacks for two different dielectric core materials is given. Also, a short discussion of other modes that could be used is given.
We investigate the memory of surface polariton (SP) via the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of quantum emitters doped at the interface between a dielectric and a metamaterial. We show that, due to the strong mode confinement provided by the interface, the EIT effect can be largely enhanced; furthermore, the storage and retrieval of the SP can be realized by switching off and on of a control laser field; additionally, the efficiency and fidelity of the SP memory can be improved much by using a weak microwave field. The results reported here are helpful not only for enhancing the understanding of SP property but also for promising applications in quantum information processing and transmission.
We investigate the memory of a surface polariton (SP) via the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of quantum emitters doped at the interface between a dielectric and a metamaterial. We show that, due to the strong mode confinement provided by the interface, the EIT effect can be largely enhanced; furthermore, the storage and retrieval of the SP can be realized by switching off and on a control laser field; additionally, the efficiency and fidelity of the SP memory can be much improved by using a weak microwave field. The results reported here are helpful not only for enhancing the understanding of the SP property but also for promising applications in quantum information processing and transmission.
We theoretically study the spatial focusing of surface polaritons (SPs) in a negative index metamaterial-atomic gas interface waveguide system, based on cross phase modulation (XPM) in a tripod type double electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) scheme. In the linear region, we realize the low-loss stable propagation of SPs, and the group velocities of the probe and signal fields are well matched via double EIT. In the nonlinear region, we show that giant enhancement of the XPM can be obtained. Using a narrow optical soliton in free space, we realize spatial focusing of the SPs solitons, including bright, multi bright, and gray solitons. The full width at the half-maximum of the SPs soliton can be compressed to about ten nanometers, thus, even nanofocusing can be obtained. The results obtained her e have certain theoretical significance for nano-scale sensing, spectral enhancement and precision measurement.