Probing the Magnetic Field of Light at Optical Frequencies

Burresi, Matteo; Oosten, D. van; Kampfrath, Tobias; Schoenmaker, H.; Heideman, René; Leinse, Arne; Kuipers, L.

doi:10.1126/science.1177096

Cited by 227 publications

(204 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…3d result from standing waves in the local electric and magnetic fields formed by reflections within the multilayer sample. In any standing wave, the magnetic field maxima correspond to the electric field minima and vice versa, as recently shown at near-infrared wavelengths using nano-structured probes 6 . The quantity measured here, though, is the spontaneous emission from quantum-mechanical transitions between electronic states.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Quantifying the magnetic nature of light emission

et al. 2012

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Tremendous advances in the study of magnetic light-matter interactions have recently been achieved using man-made nanostructures that exhibit and exploit an optical magnetic response. However, naturally occurring emitters can also exhibit magnetic resonances in the form of optical-frequency magnetic-dipole transitions. Here we quantify the magnetic nature of light emission using energy-and momentum-resolved spectroscopy, and leverage a pair of spectrally close electric-and magnetic-dipole transitions in trivalent europium to probe vacuum fluctuations in the electric and magnetic fields at the nanometre scale. These results reveal a new tool for nano-optics: an atomic-size quantum emitter that interacts with the magnetic component of light.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Quantifying the magnetic nature of light emission

et al. 2012

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“…At THz frequencies, only the transient magnetic component of a freely propagating THz beam has been measured using the Faraday effect in a magneto-optical crystal [88]. At optical wavelengths, only recently some indirect measurements have been performed [89]. It shows that calculating the magnetic near-field via the measurement of the electric near-field is up to now the best way to understand the mechanism of resonances in metamaterials.…”

Section: Metamaterialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Near-Field Terahertz Measurement Methods and Their Applications

Adam

2011

J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves

203

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In the last decades, many research teams working at Terahertz frequencies focused their efforts on surpassing the diffraction limit. Numerous techniques have been investigated, combining methods existing at optic wavelength with THz system such as Time Domain Spectroscopy. The actual development led on one side to a resolution as high as λ/3000 and one the other side to a video-rate recording. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the history of the field, to describe the different approaches, to give examples of existing applications and to draw the perspective for this research area.

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“…Hence, by tuning the excitation wavelength, we can selectively excite magnetic or electric dipole transitions through optical fields. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.163903 PACS numbers: 42.60. v, 42.25.Ja, 71.20.Eh, 78.67.Bf In the optical frequency regime, magnetic dipole transitions are orders of magnitude weaker than their electric dipole counterparts [1][2][3]. Because of this, magnetic dipole (MD) transitions are often neglected in optics, and the study of light-matter interactions becomes instead the study of interactions between electric fields and electric dipoles (ED).…”

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confidence: 99%

Excitation of Magnetic Dipole Transitions at Optical Frequencies

et al. 2015

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We use the magnetic field distribution of an azimuthally polarized focused laser beam to excite a magnetic dipole transition in Eu 3þ ions embedded in a Y 2 O 3 nanoparticle. The absence of the electric field at the focus of an azimuthally polarized beam allows us to unambiguously demonstrate that the nanoparticle is excited by the magnetic dipole transition near 527.5 nm. When the laser wavelength is resonant with the magnetic dipole transition, the nanoparticle maps the local magnetic field distribution, whereas when the laser wavelength is resonant with an electric dipole transition, the nanoparticle is sensitive to the local electric field. Hence, by tuning the excitation wavelength, we can selectively excite magnetic or electric dipole transitions through optical fields. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.163903 PACS numbers: 42.60. v, 42.25.Ja, 71.20.Eh, 78.67.Bf In the optical frequency regime, magnetic dipole transitions are orders of magnitude weaker than their electric dipole counterparts [1][2][3]. Because of this, magnetic dipole (MD) transitions are often neglected in optics, and the study of light-matter interactions becomes instead the study of interactions between electric fields and electric dipoles (ED). Perhaps the most well-known exceptions occur in the fields of metamaterials [4] and photonic crystal cavities [5,6], in which specially engineered structures can be produced to enhance interactions with the magnetic field. Nature, however, also provides materials with strong MD transitions, namely, rare earth ions. Many of their MD transitions are found within the visible spectrum, making them promising candidates for the optical excitation of MD transitions.Much theoretical and experimental work has been done exploring the MD and ED contributions to spontaneous emission from Eu 3þ and other trivalent rare earth ions [1,[7][8][9][10]. Lifetimes and oscillator strengths have been studied as a function of local environment [11][12][13][14], ion concentration [15][16][17], and particle size [18][19][20][21][22][23]. But so far, research has focused solely on detecting and enhancing spontaneous MD emission, with no work done on selective excitation through magnetic fields. In 1939, Deutschbein first identified the MD character of the 7 F 0 → 5 D 1 transition in Eu 3þ (c.f. Fig. 1(a)) by exploiting the birefringence of EuðBrO 3 Þ 3 · 9H 2 O and EuðC 2 H 5 SO 4 Þ 3 · 9H 2 O crystals [24]. He could deduce the MD or ED character of a transition by recording absorption or emission spectra for ordinary and extraordinary polarizations and comparing them to a spectrum taken along the c axis of the crystal. However, he could not selectively address individual transitions. Here, we report the direct and selective optical excitation of a MD transition in the rare earth ion Eu 3þ .The light-matter interaction between a charge-neutral quantum system and an electromagnetic field can be represented by a multipole expansion of the interaction Hamiltonianwith p being the electric dipole moment, m the magnetic dipole ...

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Probing the Magnetic Field of Light at Optical Frequencies

Cited by 227 publications

References 27 publications

Quantifying the magnetic nature of light emission

Quantifying the magnetic nature of light emission

Review of Near-Field Terahertz Measurement Methods and Their Applications

Excitation of Magnetic Dipole Transitions at Optical Frequencies

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