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It is well known that localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) greatly influence the optical properties of metallic nanostructures. The spectral location of the LSPR is sensitive to the shape, size, and composition of the nanostructure, as well as on the optical properties of the surrounding dielectric. [1] The latter effect has been used to develop different types of optical biosensors for which biological reactions near the surface of the nanostructure can be monitored through the changes in the frequency of the LSPR. [2][3][4][5][6] The induced electromagnetic field associated with the LSPR is greatly enhanced at the metal/dielectric interface, a phenomenon that is the basis for various types of surface-enhanced spectroscopy, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering. [7] Furthermore, metallic nanoparticles have been shown to have light-guiding capabilities on the nanometer scale. This makes them suitable for the development of nano-optic devices. [8] The overwhelming majority of LSPR studies have focused on Au or Ag nanoparticles because these metals have suitable optical constants for application with visible wavelengths of light. However, once the morphology and composition of a nanostructure have been fixed, it is difficult to change or control the LSPR properties by external means, which would be desirable for the development of active nanoplasmonic devices. One way to overcome this problem could be to embed the metal nanostructure in an active medium, such as a liquid crystal, [9] which can be controlled by an external electrostatic field, or a ferromagnetic garnet, [10,11] which can be moderated by a magnetic field. An alternative approach could be to let the controlling field act directly on the metallic nanostructure, for instance, using nanoparticles made of ferromagnetic metals. Such metals have strong magneto-optical (MO) activity, that is, their optical properties change markedly even if the applied magnetic field is weak. Unfortunately, this high optical absorption results in a strong damping of any intrinsic LSPR that prevents the development of active plasmonic devices made solely of ferromagnetic metals. A promising route forward could be to combine ferromagnetic materials that would promote strong MO activity with noble metals that could induce plasmonic response. The large enhancement and spatial localization of the electromagnetic field associated with the LSPR suggest that a strong enhancement of the MO properties should be possible. [12] Several attempts to develop these kinds of structures have been carried out using different chemical synthesis methods to fabricate complex onion-like nanoparticles made of noble metals and ferromagnetic materials. [13][14][15][16] These systems do exhibit LSPRs, but so far no MO activity has been reported. On the other hand, continuous thin films made of Au/Co/Au trilayers were found to lead simultaneously to well-defined propagating surface plasmon polaritons and to strong MO activity at low magnetic fields. [17] Moreover, such composite structure...

We present here a theoretical study that shows how the use of hybrid magnetoplasmonic crystals comprising both ferromagnetic and noble metals leads to a large enhancement of the performance of nanohole arrays as plasmonic sensors. In particular, we propose using Au–Co–Au films perforated with a periodic array of subwavelength holes as transducers in magneto-optical surface-plasmon-resonance sensors, where the sensing principle is based on measurements of the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect. We demonstrate that this detection scheme may result in bulk figures of merit that are 2 orders of magnitude larger than those of any other type of plasmonic sensor. The sensing strategy put forward here can make use of the different advantages of nanohole-based plasmonic sensors such as miniaturization, multiplexing, and its combination with microfluidics.

We present a comprehensive theoretical study of the magnetic field dependence of the near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) between two parallel plates. We show that when the plates are made of doped semiconductors, the near-field thermal radiation can be severely affected by the application of a static magnetic field. We find that irrespective of its direction, the presence of a magnetic field reduces the radiative heat conductance, and dramatic reductions up to 700% can be found with fields of about 6 T at room temperature. We show that this striking behavior is due to the fact that the magnetic field radically changes the nature of the NFRHT. The field not only affects the electromagnetic surface waves (both plasmons and phonon polaritons) that normally dominate the near-field radiation in doped semiconductors, but it also induces hyperbolic modes that progressively dominate the heat transfer as the field increases. In particular, we show that when the field is perpendicular to the plates, the semiconductors become ideal hyperbolic near-field emitters. More importantly, by changing the magnetic field, the system can be continuously tuned from a situation where the surface waves dominate the heat transfer to a situation where hyperbolic modes completely govern the near-field thermal radiation. We show that this high tunability can be achieved with accessible magnetic fields and very common materials like n-doped InSb or Si. Our study paves the way for an active control of NFRHT and it opens the possibility to study unique hyperbolic thermal emitters without the need to resort to complicated metamaterials.