1. Introduction
The observation of nonlinear optical effects started with the discovery of the laser in 1960 as a source of the high-intensity coherent radiation [1, 2]. Nonlinear optics is the study of the nonlinear light and matter interaction effects such as the light self-focusing and self-trapping, second harmonic generation (SHG), third-harmonic generation (THG), four-wave mixing (FWM), parametric processes, different types of stimulated light scattering (SLS), soliton generation and propagation [1, 2]. The nonlinear optical phenomena are widely used in modern communication systems for such applications as the generation of ultra-short pulses, all-optical signal processing and ultrafast switching [2, 3]. Recently, new fields of nonlinear optics emerged such as strong-field nano-optics, nonlinear plasmonics, and nonlinear metamaterials [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
In the case of the strong-field nano-optics the optical field interacts with matter at the wavelength or even at the subwavelength scale [5]. Strong electromagnetic fields of a light wave with the wavelength
Metamaterials are artificial materials with desirable properties [7]. For this reason, the magnitude of the metamaterial optical nonlinearity can be substantially increased [7]. Generally, all fundamental nonlinear optical phenomena such as self-action effects, wavelength conversion, nonlinear surface waves, nonlinear guided waves and solitons are possible in nonlinear metamaterials [7]. The nonlinear metamaterials are closely related to plasmonics, active media, and nonlinearity based on liquid crystals (LCs) [7, 8]. LCs possess simultaneously the properties of a liquid and a crystal [8, 9, 10]. Thermotropic LCs self-assemble in a different ordered arrangements of their crystalline axis depending on the temperature [8, 9, 10]. The orientational order of LC may be changed by a moderate external electric field [8, 9, 10]. For this reason, liquid crystalline media are characterized by strong optical nonlinearity [8, 9, 10]. Nematic LCs (NLCs) characterized by the ordering of molecular elongated axes are mainly used in applications [8].
In this chapter, we discuss the fundamentals of plasmonics and the specific features of the nonlinear optical effects in plasmonic nanostructures. The chapter is organized as follows. In Section 2 the interaction of the electromagnetic field with the free electrons in metals is described based on Maxwell’s equations and equation of motion for a free electron in the external electric field. The dielectric function of the free electron gas is obtained based on the Drude model. In Section 3 SPPs at the interface of a metal and a dielectric are investigated. In Section 4 the nonlinear phenomena in the plasmonic structures are briefly discussed. The details of this topic may be found in the corresponding references. Conclusions are presented in Section 5.
2. Interaction between electromagnetic field and free electrons in metals
The interaction of electromagnetic fields with metals is described by Maxwell’s equations of macroscopic electromagnetism [11]. This approach is valid also for metallic nanostructures characterized by the sizes of several nanometers [11]. The Maxwell’s equations have the form [1, 2, 11].
Here
where
where
The Fourier transform of expressions (8) and (9) results in the following relationships in the Fourier domain [11].
where
Combining Eqs. (3) and (4) we obtain the wave equation for the electric field
which takes the form in the frequency domain [11].
where
The dispersion relation for the longitudinal waves can be obtained from Eq. (13).
It is seen from Eq. (15) that the longitudinal collective oscillations can exist only for the frequencies
Consider a plasma model that explains the optical properties of alkali metals and noble metals for the frequencies up to the ultraviolet ones and to the visible ones, respectively [11, 12]. In the framework of the phenomenological plasma model the metal crystal lattice potential and electron–electron interactions are not taken into account [11]. It is assumed that the details of the metal energy band structure are included into the effective optical mass
where
The macroscopic polarization
where
Taking into account that the dielectric displacement
and substituting expression (19) into Eq. (20) we obtain.
where
The dielectric function
Typically, the frequencies
Comparison of expressions (15) and (24) shows that the longitudinal waves can be excited at the plasma frequency
3. Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs)
Consider now the SPPs at the interface between the metal
where it is assumed that the permittivity
The solution of the wave Eq. (25) in such a case is sought to be {11, 13].
Here
and
where
Substituting expressions (27), (28), (30) and (31) into Eqs. (33) we obtain [11].
On the other hand, substituting expressions (28), (29) and (31), (32) into wave Eq. (25) for the medium 1 and medium 2, respectively, we obtain the following dispersion relations [11, 13].
Here
Analysis of TE modes shows that they cannot exist in the form of the surface modes [11, 13]. SPPs can exist only for the TM polarization [11, 13].
Analysis of dispersion relation (37) with the Drude dielectric function (22) shows that in the case of the mid-infrared or lower frequencies the SPP propagation constant
In the case of large wave vectors, the SPP frequency tends to the surface plasmon frequency
The surface plasmon is an electrostatic mode which is a limiting case of SPP for
The SPP excitation at the metal/dielectric interface can be achieved by using the special phase-matching techniques such as a grating or prism coupling for the three-dimensional beams [11].
4. Nonlinear optical phenomena in Plasmonic nanostructures
In this section, we briefly discuss the peculiarities of the nonlinear optical effects in plasmonic structures. Plasmonics is a new field of photonics related to the interaction of light with matter in metallic nanostructures [12]. Plasmonics combines the capacity of photonics and the miniaturization of electronics because SPs and SPPs can confine light to subwavelength dimensions as it was mentioned above [11, 12, 13]. As a result, the effective nonlinear optical response can be enhanced significantly [3]. SPP crystals and waveguides, nano-antennas and plasmonic metamaterials can be used for the creation of optical responses by using the resonances of the individual units and their electromagnetic coupling [3]. The response of materials to an optical field is determined by its polarization
Here
The second and third-order nonlinear optical phenomena are the most important for applications [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The second-order response results in the wave-mixing effects such as the sum and difference frequency generation and second harmonic generation (SHG) where the incident frequency
where
where
The surface–enhanced SHG, third-harmonic generation and FWM in nanoplasmonic structures have been demonstrated experimentally [3]. It has been shown that the SHG signal at the electrochemically roughened silver surfaces was increased by four orders of magnitude for a flat reference surface [3]. However, the SHG in such a case is diffused and incoherent being enhanced by LSP resonances of the nanoscale surface features [3].
The structured plasmonic surfaces for enhanced nonlinear effects represent metal gratings, arrays of different types of nanoparticles and nano-apertures, split-ring resonators [3]. For instance, FWM from a gold grating was 2000 times stronger than FWM from a flat film [3].
Controlling light with light in plasmonic nanostructures is based on LSP and SPP nonlinear effects. In such a case plasmonic structures are used for all-optical modulation or switching due to the enhanced Kerr-type nonlinearities [3]. For instance, the plasmon-enhanced nonlinear materials are metal nanoparticles and bulk materials doped with such nanoparticles [3]. Propagating SPPs can serve as the signal carrier [3]. The modulation and switching of SPPs in plasmonic waveguides can be achieved by changing of the real or imaginary part of the permittivity
Consider now the plasmonic metamaterials [3, 7, 8]. They may be used for all-optical switching based on the plasmonic resonances of the split-ring resonators or nanorods and the electromagnetic coupling between these elements [3]. All-optical modulation in metamaterials can be realized by controlling the coupling strength between molecular excitons and plasmonic excitations [3].
Tunable and nonlinear metamaterials can be created by inserting of LCs into a metamaterial structure [7]. The optical fields and the bias electric field are simultaneously applied to a metamaterial with LC influence on LC reorientation [7]. Their interplay demonstrates a specific mechanism of electrically controlled optical nonlinearity in metamaterials [7]. For example, all-optical control of metamaterials with E7 NLC at the telecom wavelength of 1550 nm was investigated experimentally [7]. The integration of highly nonlinear LCs with plasmonic and metamaterials enables active switching and tuning of optical signals with a very low threshold [8]. Three general methods are combining the responses of highly nonlinear NLCs and plasmonics: (i) dissolving of nanoparticles in a bulk NLC cell; (ii) incorporating LC into nanostructures; (iii) chemical synthesis of nanoparticles with LC molecules [8]. Consider the case of a small volume fraction
Here
5. Conclusions
We considered the interaction of the optical waves with free electrons in metals. The theoretical analysis in such a case is based on Maxwell’s equations and the equation of motion of a free electron in an external electric field. As a result, plasmonic excitations emerge. The dielectric function of a free electron gas with plasmonic oscillations is described by the dielectric function (22) known as the Drude model. The longitudinal plasma oscillations excited at the plasma frequency
Plasmonics plays an essential role in modern nonlinear optics. The nonlinear optical effects can be achieved at the reduced optical power due to enhanced effective nonlinearity in plasmonic nanostructures. The size of the nonlinear components can be scaled down which is important for the development of functional nanophotonic circuits. The ultrafast optical signal processing on the femtosecond scale can be realized due to the small response time of the plasmonic excitations.
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