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Strong coupling with light has emerged as a powerful tool for modifying the properties of optical materials. Typical systems are based on a fluorescent layer embedded in a single optical cavity, whereby the excitonic emission is converted into a polarized, energy-tunable and dispersive polariton emission. There, excitons and photons coexist in the same volume and therefore any change in the emission properties of the excitonic material comes at the expense of simultaneously modifying the photonic environment where excitons reside, i.e., layer thickness and refractive index. Here, we demonstrate remote control over the intensity and total decay rate of the fluorescent layer by adding an extra purely photonic cavity strongly coupled to the first one. By modifying the resonant condition of the extra cavity, we reduce the total decay rate and suppress the fluorescence intensity of the fluorescent layer without explicitly affecting the first cavity. Such modification of the optical properties of the layer is the consequence of a resonant configuration that spatially segregates photons and excitons into different cavities.

Lattice plasmon lasers demonstrated to have many degrees of freedom useful to tailor the lasing properties, as the tuning of the morphological properties of the array or the coupling of proper emitters to band-edge states of the plasmonic crystal. Here, we present the results of the study of the lasing emission properties of a hexagonal array of aluminum nanoparticles as a function of the pumping conditions. We demonstrate how the geometrical and dynamic features of the pumping system have a significant impact on the lasing properties without affecting the temporal coherence of the emission. Moreover, by combining different pumping systems and studies at different incidence angles, the relationship between nanoarray, dye and pump has been clarified.

The use of metasurfaces to engineer the response of magnetic materials is of utmost importance in the field of magnon-spintronics. Here, we demonstrate a method to fabricate one- and two-dimensional magnonic crystals with arbitrary symmetry and use it to engineer the amplitude-frequency characteristic of magnetostatic surface spin waves excited in a magnetic material. The technique is based on the gentle microablation of the sample surface by focused femtosecond laser pulses. Tightly focused illumination allows using modest pulse energy while achieving micrometer precision. By raster scanning the incident laser spot on the sample surface, we control the shape and size of the building blocks constituting the unit cell of the crystal along with its symmetry and lattice parameter. Remarkable and controlled changes in the measured transmission characteristics reveal the strong and complex symmetry-dependent interaction of the spin waves with Bravais and non-Bravais lattices. The described single-step microfabrication method facilitates and speeds up the realization of integrated spintronics components and provides an efficient tool to explore complex magnetic dynamics in scattering lattices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we study a magnonic crystal made of low-damping yttrium iron garnet that utilizes pseudo-caustic spin wave beams generated from subwavelength square well features arranged in a two-dimensional array. The lattice symmetry and the angle between the caustic beam propagation direction and the applied magnetic field were tailored to optimize the interaction of spin waves with the engineered defects. A prominent, narrow 3 MHz feature with large rejection efficiency is observed in the spin wave transmission spectrum that could be useful as a narrowband notch filter, and time- and space-resolved Brillouin light scattering (BLS) measurements suggest that both caustic interference and edge effects may contribute to this notch feature. Furthermore, the BLS measurements show that caustics are generated efficiently at the laser ablated wells, and by tuning the frequency by 30 MHz, the caustic beam angles and, hence, the details of how the spin wave caustics hit the ablated wells change sufficiently to add and remove caustic beams, which can be used to create additional device functionality. The generation and conversion of caustic beams show promise for applications that require directional energy transport and for magnonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the influence of the Abrikosov vortex lattice on the Casimir force in a setup constituted by high-temperature superconductors subject to an external magnetic field. The Abrikosov lattice is a property of type II superconductors in which normal and superconducting carriers coexist and the latter define a periodic pattern with square symmetry. We find that the optical properties determined by spatial redistribution of the superconducting order parameter induce Casimir forces with a periodic structure whose minimal strengths coincide with the vortex cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amplitude, frequency, and time domain characteristics have been mapped for short spin wave pulses inside a magnonic crystal. A space- and time-resolved magnetoinductive probing system has been used to detail the spin wave spectral, propagation, and evolution characteristics in a geometrically structured yttrium iron garnet film. Experiments have been performed using magnetostatic surface spin waves excited in a chemically-etched magnonic crystal, ultrafast pulsed excitation of the spin waves, and direct spin wave detection using a scannable magnetoinductive probe connected to a synchronized fast oscilloscope. The results show how the frequency discriminating effect of a magnonic bandgap decreases as the excitation pulse width decreases. They also show how the use of rectangular pulses compromise the magnonic crystal performance because of the high frequency components of such pulses. Space and time maps show how these components are transmitted without additional damping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing intense, coherent and ultra-fast light sources with nanoscale dimensions is a crucial issue for many applications in nanophotonics. To date, plasmonic nanolasers represent one of the most promising nanophotonic devices capable of this remarkable feature. In the present work we report on the emission properties of two-dimensional Au hexagonal nanodome arrays, fabricated by nanosphere lithography, coupled with a dye liquid solution used as the gain medium. Low-threshold stimulated emission at room temperature is demonstrated by spectral and angle-resolved photoluminescence measurements performed as a function of the pump fluence. The emission arises with narrow angular divergence in off-normal direction, out of high-symmetry points of the plasmonic lattice. The polarization properties of the stimulated emission are investigated, revealing a strong linear polarization character controlled by the polarization orientation of the pumping beam, while the first-order temporal coherence properties are measured by using a tilted-mirrors Michelson interferometer. Finally, by comparing the results obtained for the plasmonic Au nanodomes arrays with those of purely dielectric nanoarrays, the role of the plasmonic modes and the photonic lattice modes in the emission process is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scattering scanning near-field optical microscopes (s-SNOMs) based on pseudoheterodyne detection and operating at ambient conditions typically suffer from instabilities related to the variable optical path length of the interferometer arms. These cause strong oscillations in the measured optical amplitude and phase comparable with those of the signal and, thus, resulting in dramatic artifacts. Besides hampering the comparison between the topography and the optical measurements, such oscillations may lead to misinterpretations of the physical phenomena occurring at the sample surface, especially for nanostructured materials. Here, we propose a stabilizing method based on interferometer phase control, which improves substantially the image quality and allows the correct extraction of optical phase and amplitude for both micro- and nanostructures. This stabilization method expands the measurement capabilities of s-SNOM to any slowly time-dependent phenomena that require long-term stability of the system. We envisage that active stabilization will increase the technological significance of s-SNOMs and will have far-reaching applications in the field of heat transfer and nanoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide perovskite quantum dots (PeQDs) are characterized by a size-dependent emission spectrum and an intrinsic lack of preferential emission directions. Thus, new means for shaping the typical Lambertian angular profile of thin layers embedding such PeQDs are highly desirable for several photonics applications, including solid-state lighting devices. Here, we show that the photoluminescence pattern of PeQDs can be changed drastically by weakly coupling them to plasmonic lattices at emission wavelengths. The coupling to extended collective optical modes supported by the lattices converts the ensemble of incoherent randomly oriented emitters into a spatially coherent source of polarized light with a wavelength-dependent intensity enhancement of about one order of magnitude. The dispersive character of the narrow collective optical modes is key to achieving intensity enhancement of the entire perovskite emission spectrum, especially its tails, together with beaming into definite directions. Further, we optimize the thickness of the perovskite layer to realize simultaneous shaping of its emission by plasmonic lattices of different symmetries. This flexibility paves the way to designing advanced photonic architectures based on PeQDs for solid-state lighting applications requiring programmable emission patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased interest in white solid-state lighting devices addresses the urgent challenge to develop semiconductors with broad band emission. In recent years, low dimensional hybrid organic/inorganic lead perovskites have shown great potential as single white-light emitters. Herein, we show that it is possible to control the chirality of lead bromide perovskites by incorporating enantiopure (R or S) or racemic (RS) β-methylphenethylammonium. The incorporation of such cations allows us to control the chirality of the resulting materials and yields the first examples of 2D chiral perovskites that emit white light. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these materials exhibit second harmonic generation. Our results demonstrate the potential of this kind of materials for chiroptical applications and non-linear optics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the optics of surface and interfaces in the near‐field radiative heat transfer for finite‐layered media and superlattices is reviewed. The definition of surface impedance is compared with effective medium approximations for the dielectric functions. It is shown that the presence of polar materials makes the use of effective medium models ineffective, in particular, when the topmost layer supports surface modes. Furthermore, the effect on the near‐field heat transfer is quantified when approximate methods are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We experimentally demonstrate the coherent control, i.e., phase-dependent enhancement and suppression, of the optical absorption in an array of metallic nanoantennas covered by a thin luminescent layer. The coherent control is achieved by using two collinear, counterpropagating, and phase-controlled incident waves with wavelength matching the absorption spectrum of dye molecules coupled to the array. Symmetry arguments shed light on the relation between the relative phase of the incident waves and the excitation efficiency of the optical resonances of the system. This coherent control is associated with a phase-dependent distribution of the electromagnetic near fields in the structure which enables a significant reduction of the unwanted dissipation in the metallic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We experimentally demonstrate a broadband enhancement of the light absorption in graphene over the whole visible spectrum. This enhanced absorption is obtained in a multilayer structure by using an Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) configuration and it is explained in terms of coherent absorption arising from interference and dissipation. The interference mechanism leading to the phenomenon of coherent absorption allows for its precise control by varying the refractive index and/or thickness of the medium surrounding the graphene.

We propose a novel method to guide THz radiation with low losses along thin layers of water. This approach is based on the coupling of evanescent surface fields at the opposite sides of the thin water layer surrounded by a dielectric material, which leads to a maximum field amplitude at the interfaces and a reduction of the energy density inside the water film. In spite of the strong absorption of water in this frequency range, calculations show that the field distribution can lead to propagation lengths of several centimeters. By means of attenuated total reflection measurements we demonstrate the coupling of incident THz radiation to the long-range surface guided modes across a layer of water with a thickness of 24 μm. This first demonstration paves the way for THz sensing in aqueous environments.