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International audience; Optical nanoantennas are studied to manipulate light and enhance light matter interactions. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the optical Hemholtz resonance in a metallic slit-box structure, which is predicted to be harmonic and to enhance the electric field intensity by several orders of magnitude. It is fabricated thanks to a two steps electron beam lithography, between which the box was filled with benzocyclobutene (BCB).

We investigate the nonlinear optical response of a commercial extended-wavelength In$_{0.81}$Ga$_{0.19}$As photodetector. Degenerate two-photon absorption in the mid-infrared range is observed at room temperature using a quantum cascade laser emitting at $\lambda=4.5~\mu$m as the excitation source. From the measured two-photon photocurrent signal we extract a two-photon absorption coefficient $\beta^{(2)} = 0.6 \pm 0.2$ cm/MW, in agreement with the theoretical value obtained from the $E_g^{-3}$ scaling law. Considering the wide spectral range covered by extended-wavelength In$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$As alloys, this result holds promise for new applications based on two-photon absorption for this family of materials at wavelengths between 1.8 and 5.6 $\mu$m.

The ability of detecting harmful chemicals is an important safety requirement for drinking water systems. An apparatus for in-water chemical sensing based on the absorption of evanescent waves generated by a quantum cascade laser array propagating in a silver halide optical fiber immersed into water is demonstrated. We present a theoretical analysis of the sensitivity of the system and experimentally characterize its real-time response and spectroscopic detection for injection of a sample chemical (ethanol) in a tube containing water.

Inspired by the acoustic Helmholtz resonator, we propose a slit-box electromagnetic nanoantenna able to concentrate the energy of an incident beam into surfaces a thousand times smaller than with a classical lens. This design gives birth to giant field intensity enhancement in hot volume, throughout the slit. It reaches $10^4$ in the visible up to $10^8$ in the THz range even with focused beams thanks to an omnidirectional reception. These properties could target applications requiring extreme light concentration, such as SEIRA, non-linear optics and biophotonics.

Recent developments have enabled the practical realization of optical elements in which the polarization of light may vary spatially. We present an extension of Fourier optics-matrix Fourier optics-for understanding these devices and apply it to the design and realization of metasurface gratings implementing arbitrary, parallel polarization analysis. We show how these gratings enable a compact, full-Stokes polarization camera without standard polarization optics. Our single-shot polarization camera requires no moving parts, specially patterned pixels, or conventional polarization optics and may enable the widespread adoption of polarization imaging in machine vision, remote sensing, and other areas.