Nonlinear Plasmonic Cloaks to Realize Giant All-Optical Scattering Switching

Christos Argyropoulos, Pai-Yen Chen, Francesco Monticone, Giuseppe D’Aguanno, and Andrea Alù

Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 263905 – Published 27 June 2012

Abstract

Here we extend the reach of Fano resonant coupling by combining this concept with cloaking and plasmonic resonances in a single nonlinear nanoparticle, in order to realize giant all-optical scattering nanoswitches controlled by moderate pumping intensities. We show that a core-shell nonlinear plasmonic particle may be designed to abruptly switch from being completely cloaked to being strongly resonant, with up to a 40 dB cross-sectional difference. Self-tunable optical cloaks and resonant scatterers are envisioned for use as efficient all-optical switches and nanomemories.

Received 1 April 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.263905

Authors & Affiliations

Christos Argyropoulos¹, Pai-Yen Chen¹, Francesco Monticone¹, Giuseppe D’Aguanno², and Andrea Alù^1,*

¹Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
²Nanogenesis Division, AEgis Technologies, 410 Jan Davis Drive, Huntsville, Alabama 35806, USA