Light‐Induced Tuning and Reconfiguration of Nanophotonic Structures

Abstract

Interaction of light pulses of various durations and intensities with nanoscale photonic structures plays an important role in many applications of nanophotonics for high-density data storage, ultra-fast data processing, surface coloring and sensing. A design of optically tunable and reconfigurable structures made from different materials is based on many important physical effects and advances in material science, and it employs the resonant character of light interaction with nanostructures and strong field confinement at the nanoscale. Here we review the recent progress in physics of tunable and reconfigurable nanophotonic structures of different types. We start from low laser intensities that produce weak reversible changes in nanostructures, and then move to the discussion of non-reversible changes in photonic structures. We focus on three platforms based on metallic, dielectric and hybrid resonant photonic structures such as nanoantennas, nanoparticle oligomers and nanostructured metasurfaces. Main challenges and key advantages of each of the approaches focusing on applications in advanced photonic technologies are also discussed.

Laser Writing of Bright Colors on Near-Percolation Plasmonic Reflector Arrays

“…The fabrication procedure for near-percolation reflector arrays is exceedingly simple and scalable to mass production, while the laser-induced modification occurs inherently with the subwavelength resolution. This unique combination of remarkable features makes the approach developed for laser colour writing readily amenable for practical implementation and use in diverse applications ranging from nanoscale patterning for security marking to large-scale colour printing for decoration.*e-mail: seib@mci.sdu.dk Ultrafast laser processing of materials holds important implications for both applied and fundamental research 11 , including novel possibilities for post-processing and reconfiguring nanophotonic structures 12,13 . Laser processing at the nanoscale often involves resonant (local) field enhancement and photo-thermal effects, for example, to modify the morphology of individual plasmonic resonators 14 or dielectric nanoparticles (NPs) 10 .…”

Using optical resonances to control heat generation and propagation in silicon nanostructures

“…Amorphous silicon can undergo crystallization below its melting temperature, with the obvious advantage that the overall shape of the silicon structure is preserved. (16)(17)(18) Here we investigate the possibility to induce heat generation and control the spatial crystallization in amorphous silicon nanostructures by directly exploiting the coupling of light with optical resonances. Amorphous-Si nanostructures are characterized by low thermal conductivity (1.5 W/mK).…”

Plasmonic Nanolenses Produced by Cylindrical Vector Beam Printing for Sensing Applications

“…Such excitation modes cannot be easily reached with ordinary optical beams and are considered applicable for enhancing nonlinear optical interactions, sensing and catalytic performance, and so on. [22]. * alex.iacp.dvo@mail.ru Taking into account the spatially symmetric donutshaped intensity profile of CVBs, resonant nanoantennas fabricated by them are commonly designed to have similar circular symmetry, for example, as circumferentially spaced nanodiscs [13,23] or slit arrangements and nanoapertures of various shapes [14,[24][25][26].…”