Negative phase advance through a single layer of near-IR negative index metamaterial (NIM) is identified through interferometric measurements. The NIM unit cell, sub-wavelength in both the lateral and light propagation directions, is comprised of a pair of Au strips separated by two dielectric and one Au film. Numerical simulations show that the negative phase advance through the single-layer sample is consistent with the negative index exhibited by a bulk material comprised of multiple layers of the same structure. We also numerically demonstrate that the negative index band persists in the lossless limit.

Assemblies of strongly interacting metallic nanoparticles are the basis for plasmonic nanostructure engineering. We demonstrate that clusters of four identical spherical particles self-assembled into a close-packed asymmetric quadrumer support strong Fano-like interference. This feature is highly sensitive to the polarization of the incident electric field due to orientation-dependent coupling between particles in the cluster. This structure demonstrates how careful design of self-assembled colloidal systems can lead to the creation of new plasmonic modes and the enabling of interference effects in plasmonic systems.

We measure, simulate, and analyze the optical transmission through arrays of Ag nanorod pairs and U-shaped nanostructures as a function of polarization and angle of incidence. The bianisotropic nature of the metamaterials is exhibited in data and in simulations, and we argue that the electric field rather than the magnetic field excites the low frequency ``magnetic'' mode. We also observe spatial dispersion in the form of frequency shifts as a function of incident angle which we attribute to coupling effects between neighboring structures. A simple model based upon coupled electromagnetic dipoles is found to provide a qualitative description for the main features observed in the spectra.

We introduce a novel type of a nonlinear optical isolator based on adiabatic time-irreversible mode conversion of a tightly confined core mode of an optical fiber into a loosely confined cladding mode of the same fiber. A simple model is developed, describing this device in terms of the time evolution of a driven nonlinear oscillator. Non-reciprocity is shown to be related to the combination of the phase space bifurcation and weak dissipation.

The self-assembly of colloids is an alternative to top-down processing that enables the fabrication of nanostructures. We show that self-assembled clusters of metal-dielectric spheres are the basis for nanophotonic structures. By tailoring the number and position of spheres in close-packed clusters, plasmon modes exhibiting strong magnetic and Fano-like resonances emerge. The use of identical spheres simplifies cluster assembly and facilitates the fabrication of highly symmetric structures. Dielectric spacers are used to tailor the interparticle spacing in these clusters to be approximately 2 nanometers. These types of chemically synthesized nanoparticle clusters can be generalized to other two- and three-dimensional structures and can serve as building blocks for new metamaterials.

The use of a short-pulse petawatt (PW) laser (τ L <200 fs, wavelength ≈1 μm) enables experimental realization of a self-guided, multi-centimetre-long multi-GeV laser wakefield electron accelerator. A comprehensive set of numerical simulations showed that a 150 fs, 1.33 PW pulse is self-guided over 10 cm of a static filling gaseous plasma of density 1–3×10 17  cm −3 and is stable against relativistic filamentation. A fully broken electromagnetic wake (electron density 'bubble') is excited over the entire interaction length. Variations of bubble size and shape associated with nonlinear evolution of the driving pulse result in self-injection of background plasma electrons. Self-injection begins immediately after the first nonlinear laser focus, where pulse de-focusing forces the bubble to grow. Injection continues without interruption while the bubble expands, and ceases when the laser becomes self-guided and bubble evolution stabilizes. Self-injected electrons are accelerated to  7 GeV with less than 10% energy spread and  1.3 nC charge. Numerical modelling of the laser pulse dynamics over the entire plasma length is carried out using a time-averaged, fully relativistic, quasi-static three-dimensional (3D) axi-symmetric particle-in-cell (PIC) code, WAKE. The process of electron self-injection is explored by means of both test-particle modelling (WAKE) and 3D PIC simulations using the recently developed CALDER-Circ code in quasi-cylindrical geometry.

We present the first demonstration of pL-scale analyte index sensing based on surface phonon polaritons in the midinfrared, which are excited at the silicon carbide/analyte interface in the Otto configuration. Attenuated total reflectance measurements reveal analyte index specificity through a double-scan of wavelength and incidence angle for analyte volumes as small as 100 pL. Midinfrared sensing tuned to surface phonon polariton resonance paves the way for index sensing of analytes beyond current volume−resolution limits.

It is generally accepted that the lifetimes of the localized plasmonic excitations are inherently controlled by the type of the metals and the shape of the nanoparticles. However, extended plasmonic lifetimes and enhanced near-fields in nanoparticle arrays can be achieved as a result of collective excitation of plasmons. In this article, we demonstrate significantly longer plasmon lifetimes and stronger near-field enhancements by embedding the nanoantenna arrays into the substrate. Our approach offers a more homogeneous dielectric background allowing stronger diffractive couplings among plasmonic particles leading to strong suppression of the radiative damping. We observe near-field enhancements well beyond than those achievable with isolated nanoparticles. Enhanced fields obtained in these structures could be attractive for biosensing and non-linear photonics applications.