Extraordinary Light

[seasmith]

Extraordinary Light

Nanowerk Spotlight) In physics, a plasmon is the quasiparticle resulting from the quantization of plasma oscillations just as photons and phonons are quantizations of light and sound waves, respectively. As the name indicates, surface plasmons are those plasmons that are confined to surfaces. Controlling these surface plasmons has become a 'hot' research area for optical signal processing, surface enhanced spectroscopy and sensor nanotechnology.

Our work is the first demonstration of detection of intact viruses using extraordinary light transmission phenomena in plasmonic nanohole arrays," Altug tells Nanowerk. "So far, questions remain regarding the possible limitations of this technique for virus detection, as the penetration depth of the surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) is comparable to the dimensions of the pathogens.

Altug explains that their sensors exploit plasmonic resonances supported by plasmonic nanohole arrays (PNA) for detection. PNAs are arrays of nanoscale apertures (holes, with diameters of ∼250-350 nm) that are defined periodically (with pitch ∼500-800 nm) on an optically thick noble metal films such as ∼100 nm thick gold. At certain wavelengths, these nanohole arrays can transmit light much more strongly than the classical aperture theory predicts. [ This phenomenon is called extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordin ... ansmission ]

EOT signals result from the involvement of surface plasmon-polariton resonances (SPR). The resonance wavelength of EOT signal is strongly correlated with the effective dielectric constant of the adjacent medium around the plasmonic sensor. Altug explains that, as pathogens bind to the sensor surface, the effective refractive index of the medium increases, and the red-shifting of the plasmonic resonance occurs.

http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=19047.php

[seasmith]

Abstract:
As shown in a recent letter [Nature452, 728 (2008)] with a microscopic model, the phenomenon of the extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) is intrinsically due to two distinct surface waves: the surface plasmon polariton and the quasi-cylindrical wave (quasi-CW) that efficiently funnel light into the hole aperture at resonance. Here we present a comprehensive microscopic model of the EOT that takes into account the two surface waves. The model preserves the desirable physical insight of the previous approach, but since it additionally takes into account the quasi-CWs, it provides highly accurate predictions over a much broader spectral range, from visible to microwave radiation. The net outcome is a complete understanding of many aspects of the EOT and especially of the role of the metal conductivity that has largely puzzled the initial interpretations. We believe that the main conclusions of the present analysis may be applied to many Wood-type surface resonances on metallic surfaces.
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract. ... 27-12-2542

Also:

Initially, it was believed that SPPs [Surface Plasmons] are involved in theemergence of EOT in 1D subwavelength metallic grat-ings. Since then a wide range of configurations that donot support SPPs but exhibit EOT have been reportedto exist. However, it is evident that all of these con-figurations do support a standing wave for the higherdiffraction orders when exhibiting EOT, and do not whenno EOT is possible. Therefore, our conclusion is thata standing wave, which can be similar to a Fabri-Perotmode, or a waveguide mode, is always the mechanismresponsible for EOT. To prove this point, we have de-veloped a simple analytical model for the case where ad ∼ 0.5. We showed that this model is in a very good agreement with the full numerical calculations for a widerange of configurations, and therefore is a good approxi-mation for describing the underlying physical picture forEOT.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... ent=safari

All of which raises the question:
are the resonances (standing waves) generated on the transverse EM-ES plasmon or molecular boundaries,
at the direct photonic light level ,
or where the twain does meet ?

[seasmith]

EOT's

A recent paper, but still only general answers to cause:

While numerical calculations and semi-analytical mod-
els accurately predicted the emergence of EOT in 1D ar-
rays of subwavelength metallic gratings6–9, the underly-
ing physical mechanism has been under scientific debate
for several years3,6,7,10,11. Most explanations involved
EOT for incoming light in TM polarization (the magnetic
field component of the incoming light is parallel to the
slits), and invoked, in one way or the other, resonant ex-
citation of modified forms of surface waves. For 1D slits,
TM polarized light always has an electric field component
perpendicular to the slits, and can therefore resonantly
excite surface waves - surface plasmons (SPP)3. These
phenomena were thought to be essential for EOT, though
different mechanisms such as the full dynamical diffrac-
tion theory7, and cavity-like EOT were also suggested as
possible explanations for emergence of EOT6,10.

In 2006 E. Moreno et al.12 showed theoretically that
EOT is possible for TE [electric field component] polarization as well, where sur-
face excitations are not allowed, and therefore such EOT
is essentially a plasmonless EOT.

...the metal grating can be treated as
an effective dielectric medium... Therefore, our
simplified model is that for there to be EOT, there has to
be a standing wave in the ˆz direction inside the system
for the bragg modes having m 6= 0.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
Initially, it was believed that SPPs are involved in the
emergence of EOT in 1D subwavelength metallic grat-
ings. Since then a wide range of configurations that do
not support SPPs but exhibit EOT have been reported
to exist. However, it is evident that all of these con-
figurations do support a standing wave for the higher
diffraction orders when exhibiting EOT, and do not when
no EOT is possible. Therefore, our conclusion is that
a standing wave, which can be similar to a Fabri-Perot
mode, or a waveguide mode, is always the mechanism
responsible for EOT.

http://arxiv4.library.cornell.edu/pdf/1011.3713v1

[seasmith]

Super Photons


B

y cooling Rubidium atoms deeply and concentrating a sufficient number of them in a compact space, they suddenly become indistinguishable. They behave like a single huge "super particle." Physicists call this a Bose-Einstein condensate.

For "light particles," or photons, this should also work. Unfortunately, this idea faces a fundamental problem. When photons are "cooled down," they disappear. Until a few months ago, it seemed impossible to cool light while concentrating it at the same time. The Bonn physicists Jan Klärs, Julian Schmitt, Dr. Frank Vewinger, and Professor Dr. Martin Weitz have, however, succeeded in doing this – a minor sensation.

condensate made of light

The Bonn physicists then increased the quantity of photons between the mirrors by exciting the pigment solution using a laser. This allowed them to concentrate the cooled-off light particles so strongly that they condensed into a "super-photon."...
When a black body is cooled down, it will at some point radiate no longer in the visible range; instead, it will only give off invisible infrared photons. At the same time, its radiation intensity will decrease. The number of photons becomes smaller as the temperature falls. This is what makes it so difficult to get the quantity of cool photons that is required for Bose-Einstein condensation to occur...
This photonic Bose-Einstein condensate is a completely new source of light that has characteristics resembling lasers.

They slowed them down, then re-energized them in a more coherent form.
It's not clear from the PR,
did they decrease angular 'momentum' and then increase some phase-harmonic of orbital acceleration,or vice versa;
or what is really going on here ?



http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... hoton.html

[seasmith]

EOT vs Quenching


Here finally a paper on the subject with some coherency, and in Anglais; where they seem, by eliminations, to narrow down the phenomena of Extraordinary Optical Transmissions to a sort of ‘harmonic of harmonics’.
In this particular set of expiris, the resonances (and hence their geometric progressions of “light” wave fronts) are summations of the [grating] material’s inherent molecular Plasmonic Oscillations, with that of the mediums' edge/interface Diffraction Patterns.

http://www.nanogenesisgroup.com/PDFs/D' ... al.PRB.pdf

A number of other studies recently have tried sorting out the E and the M component behaviors of this ‘magnified’ photonic progression, or light ray, but with out significant discernable coherence,
~but they would be key...


http://ieeexplore.ieee.org:80/Xplore/lo ... ision=-203

[seasmith]

EXTRAORDINARY LIGHT

Well it it's got to be one of the top 100 titles, but the book so far has not quite lived up to the billing.
There is some thing extra-ordinary going on in that photonic output appears to be surpassing electric input, provoking the interest of the the zero-point energy contingent; and in experiment, net output has not yet been completely accounted for.
The ambivalence seems to center on questions of energy/light creation, four(+) wave focussing or just common plane wave phase-conjugation.

(PhysOrg.com Nov 2010) -- In a new study, scientists have shown that simply tailoring the nanoscale geometrical parameters of dielectric structures can result in an increase in the light intensity to unprecedented levels. Theoretically, they calculate that the light intensity could be increased to up to 100,000 times that of the incident intensity over large volumes. This large light enhancement could lead to new developments in all-optical switching and biosensing applications.

[Never mind the "switching and biosensing buzz phrases included for funding prospectii], their presumed insight is "nanoscale geometrical parameters of dielectric structures".
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-ext ... vices.html

Some other prime suspects are: surface plasmons (treated extensively previously on this forum), polaritrons (sort of mini-plasmons), diffraction gratings ( the "physical geometries" of specific test devices), incident wave characteristics (usually energetic lasers), and their cumulative resonances ( hence the putative "phase conjugations) .
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract. ... b-28-4-629
What is inferred, tho collectively left out of the peer reviewed pubs and no doubt readily apparent to EU initiates, might well be the unitive progressions and cyclic ( ie: locally detectable) radiances of that dadblanged aetheric circuit.

tranquillo mis amigos,
this is the Future of Science rag, no?





hexaganal planar progression

[seasmith]

~
The most coherent synopsis of the current knowledge base (with a slight filter product and invisible cloak bias) that i've read recently:

1. INTRODUCTION
Light-matter interactions in a metal layer patterned at the subwavelength scale give rise to a wide
variety of optical resonances. Since the discovery of extraordinary light transmission (EOT) [1],
numerous experiments on such subwavelength apertures of opaque metallic ¯lms have demonstrated
the ability to control light con¯nement and light propagation at the subwavelength scale.
The pattern in periodic structures allows coupling mechanisms between impinging light and
surface plasmon waves. The excitation of horizontal coupled surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) on
the surfaces of the grating is pointed out to explain the extraordinary transmission of light trough
periodic arrays of subwavelength apertures in metallic ¯lms [2]. However, other mechanisms are
also responsible for the high transmission and huge con¯nement of light in metallic gratings. For
instance, waveguide modes, which appear in one-dimensional gratings made of narrow slits, also
play an important role in the onset of extraordinary transmission [3]. In addition, when the
patterned metallic ¯lm is surrounded by a dielectric material, the excitation of cladding modes by
the incoming light also cause extraordinary transmission resonances [4].
Moreover, cascading extraordinary transmission structures leads to a magnetic resonance re-
sponse which yields a left-handed behavior and a negative refraction over a speci¯c frequency
range [5{7]. By properly adjusting the separation distance among the cascaded metallic layers the
negative refractive index can be extended over a larger frequency range [8].
These phenomena allow us to design planar optical elements having di®erent refractive indices
and spectral dispersion properties. This is very attractive for many optical applications in fun-
damental optics and in optoelectronics, like lenses and ¯lters, and open up new possibilities in
controlling and manipulating light by a wide range of plasmonic materials. In this sense, we have
designed subwavelength structures for ¯ltering purposes in the mid-infrared frequency range with
high transmission levels. In addition, one advantage of such ¯lters is their simple and compact
implementation by comparison with conventional multilayer ¯lters due to their huge number of
layers and their large thicknesses required in the mid-infrared domain.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http:/ ... 3IuY5W98Ag


As we've discussed above, the higher harmonics can be complex with out being trivial.

~

[seasmith]

And a practical application of EOT





Aug 4, 2011
Seeing biomarkers with the naked eye

Plasmonics is a new branch of photonics that exploits "surface plasmon polaritons", which arise from the interaction of light with the electrons oscillating at a metal's surface. The new detection platform developed by the Boston team exploits such resonances in plasmonic nanohole arrays. These are arrays of nanoapertures or holes just 200–350 nm across spaced 500–800 nm apart on nanolayers of noble metal films, such as those made of gold. At certain wavelengths, the nanohole arrays can transmit light much more strongly than predicted by classical aperture theory. This phenomenon is called extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) and it occurs thanks to surface plasmon polariton resonances.

The resonance wavelength of the EOT depends on the dielectric constant of the medium surrounding the plasmon sensor. As biomolecules bind to the sensor surface, the effective refractive index of the medium increases, so red-shifting the plasmonic resonance, explains Altug. This red-shift is then usually measured using a spectrometer or camera – depending on the light source employed – to identify the biomolecule in a label-free fashion

.

"There is more to it than just resonant transmission," added team member Ahmet Ali Yanik, who is first author of the article published in PNAS. "A commonly overlooked but particularly intriguing outcome of EOT phenomena is the appearance of a 'Fano resonance' profile," he said. This fundamental resonance line-shape is observed in systems where the energy transfer from an initial state to a final state can occur via two pathways. Depending on the phase difference between these alternative pathways, a resonance profile that looks like the Greek letter "Λ" is seen.

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/46772

[seasmith]

Related technology

Recently it was discovered that light rays can travel without diffraction in a curved arc in free space. These rays of light were dubbed “Airy beams,” after the English astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy, who studied what appears to be the parabolic trajectory of light in a rainbow.

Now, scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have demonstrated the first technique that provides dynamic control in real-time of the curved trajectories of Airy beams over metallic surfaces.

...their ability to directly couple free-space Airy beams – using a standard tool of optics called a “grating coupler” – to quasi-particles called surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Directing a laser beam of light across the surface of a metal nanostructure generates electronic surface waves – called plasmons – that roll through the metal’s conduction electrons (those loosely attached to molecules and atoms). The resulting interaction between plasmons and photons creates SPPs. By directly coupling Airy beams to SPPs, the researchers are able to manipulate light at an extremely small scale beyond the diffraction limit.

[The same principle at work in EOT and a holy grail for sub-molecular/atomic scale sampling]

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stori ... t-a-curve/

[webolife]

Seasmith,
What is extraordinary is this series of great article finds!! Extraordinary OPTICAL transmission indeed

First, I hope others recognize the use of the word "extraordinary", versus "anomalous", but it serves similarly to show that current theory could not predict this finding. I've studied Airy theory, and an alternative model called Mie theory, in my research of atmospheric optics. I believe the answers to all the light riddles we face lies in optics, in considerations of light field geometry. I disavow light as particulate, but it is [it must be]distinctly "quantizable", ie. there is discontinuity in the field parameters that produce it at the fundamental level, since it is modulated by discrete changes in the electronic configuration of the light source/centroid, as an extended version of a purported "continuous" spectrum shows. I like the following archival image of the so-called continuous spectrum of the sun as a demonstration of this "discretization" [I'm using a low res image, go to a higher res version for further discretization]:



Though the lingo is different from mine, I have synesthesia [love to use JL's term] in my simplistic use of "electrical field alignment" with article terms such as "polarization" and "dialectric". This explains much more than that first article that was brought to this thread. By manipulating the metal plates they have aligned the surface plasmonic resonance to create an electrically refactory "superpath" for the light trajectory at the surface of the apertures. This is analogous somewhat to the old adage that a person moving all his/her muscle fibers together in the same direction could lift a skscraper. What they are doing by trying to confine/condense light with the mirrors is what happens naturally by the internal structure of a lasing ruby crystal, or in any light collimating apparatus. Another limited analogy for this might be a toilet plunger, which amplifies longitudinal force by repeated pressure pulses. They are effectively reflecting the light impulse forward repeatedly through an aligned electronic field. By "cooling" I assume they mean reddening by use of filters, but perhaps it's the "redshifting" effect of the plasmon alignment I think that is a misleading term. One of the articles used the term "funnel" where I said "focus". Of course a pinhole device serves to focus optical light rays and array them as an image, and/or as a spectrum which [as I indicated elsewhere] is not a slit-caused distortion, but a true image of the light source field projected at the central line-of-sight. What I tried to describe earlier came from my study of optics, not from any prior knowledge of EOT.

[seasmith]

... in my research of atmospheric optics. I believe the answers to all the light riddles we face lies in optics, in considerations of light field geometry.

W,

fwiw, here's a paper which diagrams some of the more-or-less typical experimental setups in that area of research, to give you a flavor of the terms used, that you've questioned above:

http://wenku.baidu.com/view/7ae5f140be1 ... a99ed.html

Perhaps also to help us focus on a distinction that sometimes seems somewhat blurry to me, in your explanations of projection (or radiations) versus reception of optic phenomena; or more simply, between quantifying electro-detectors and quanti/qualifying bio-receptors.
What Goethe would call physical or physiological effects.

I also disavow the Necessity of particulate (or wavelet) models in discussions of 'light',
unless that is the quantifying model that one is versed in for mathematic and conceptual manipulation of the data.

http://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/forum/phpB ... 5&start=30

[webolife]

Two things:
Thing 1: Radiation, projection, longitudinal, transverse and reflection are all terms that can be used to describe optical geometry without the need for particulation or energy wave models. However WHATEVER the fundamental nature of light is, its effect is that of pressure, and the only way for it to be detected is when it's there at the detector, not along the way. So action at or from a distance is naturally observed right here at my retina or detector. This leads to . . .
Thing 2: Electrons [whatever they are] spin, bounce, revolve, jump, in accordance with the configuration of a particular atomic structure. I think of all these things [as well as geometric symmetry] as I think of "resonance", which is really just another name for discretization, or [not my favorite] quantization. Think pressure pulses instead of wave pulses. When I am looking at a light source, my retina is connected to that electronic configuration -- the vectors that caused the electron to drop are the same ones pushing toward the light source from behind my head -- and the moment an electron jumps to a lower level "there" my retina feels the pressure release/shift "here". The electronic action is resonant in it's own context, and marvelously my retina is configured anatatomically and physiologically to resonate with it. That's how I see it, double entendre intentional.

I'll copy this over to the "Webo-Centric" thread. That reminds me of "eccentric" -- kind like it

[seasmith]

~
Conventional wisdom maintains that light (‘photons’) and electro-magnetic fluxes do not interact. On a macroscale, interaction is not evident, but on a smaller (or larger) canevas, conventional observations may not provide the complete picture. Perhaps this non-recognition is due the fact that "light", being a (transverse) electro-magnetic phenom itself, is not clearly distinguishable from inherently similar (longitudinal?) fluxations. Sort of forest-for-the-trees?
∞Not long ago most folks did not realize that EM events on the sun could have a profound effect on terrestrial weather.∞
Lately however, researches on a quasi-subatomic scale (or ‘quantum’ scale for the QD aficionados) have indicated otherwise. Ignoring for the moment that lasers are routinely used to energize and manipulate matter at the EM level in fields such as spectroscopic microscopy, quantum dots, etc.; consider this new class of optical cavities used for lasing light:

New class of 3-D optical cavities demonstrated
Oct 17, 2912
http://www.photonics.com/Article.aspx?AID=51720

...new class of optical cavities, with remarkable electromagnetic properties

“Optical cavities are the major components of most lasers. Light confined within these cavities reflects back and forth between two opposing mirrors to produce a standing wave at a specific resonant frequency. It is from this standing light wave that a laser beam is generated.”
“Light in natural materials behaves the same, no matter the direction in which it propagates. In indefinite metamaterials, however, light can be bent backward in some directions, a property known as negative refraction…

“Cavities of different sizes can have the same resonance frequency.”

When created from natural materials, optical cavities can be no smaller than the wavelength of the light propagating through them. Metamaterials, however, allow for electromagnetic behavior that is not found in nature. These materials, engineered by combining metals and dielectrics, derive their optical properties from their [EM] structure rather than from their chemical composition.

s

[webolife]

And I would query whether there is a significant fundamental difference between EM and chemical configurations...
Chemistry is ALL about electrical configuration. And electrical configuration is only detectable by means of resonant materials, er chemicals...

ie. we may not be talking chicken and egg, it's cheggen. It's not cart and horse, it's chorset. Well that was hardly a literary coup... EM and fundamental chemsitry are simply one and the same thing.

[seasmith]

I would query whether there is a significant fundamental difference between EM and chemical configurations...

-webolife


Exactly.
Is there anyone in these parts that still envisions electrons as just spinball bearings orbiting a sack-of-marbles nucleus; rather than as configurations of transient charge enveloped, pervaded and subsumed by electro-magnetic fluxations ?

~