Ultrafast (magneto-) plasmonics

Metal nanoantennas are one million times smaller than the well-known radio antennas. They are fabricated via electron-beam lithography, focused ion beam milling or via colloidal masks. We investigate both linear [1] and nonlinear [2, 3, 9] properties of these metallic devices via excitation with few-cycle laser pulses. A further area of research is surface plasmon interferometry. A microinterferometer consists of slits and grooves, which are milled into a thin metal film. Ultrafast changes in the plasmonic wave vector may be induced via femtosecond laser pulses [4, 8].

We also look into magneto-plasmonics, where metal/ferromagnet/metal hybrid structures are investigated [5 - 7]. These experimental methods are also interesting for sensing applications.

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[2] T. Hanke et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 257404 (2009)

[3] T. Hanke et al., Nano Lett. 12, 992 (2012)

[4] V. V. Temnov et al., Opt. Expr. 17, 8423 (2009)

[5] V. V. Temnov et al., Nature Photon. 4, 107 (2010)

[6] D. Martín-Becerra et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 183114 (2010)

[7] D. Martin-Becerra et al., Phys. Rev. B 86, 035118 (2012)

[8] V. V. Temnov et al., Nature Comm. 4, 1468 (2013)

[9] T. Stiehm et al., Appl. Phys. B 122,119 (2016)