Ultrafast active plasmonics: transmission and control of femtosecond plasmon signals

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates femtosecond surface plasmon polariton pulses propagating along a waveguide, which can be ultrafast modulated via optical excitation, enabling terahertz bandwidth for nanophotonic information processing.

Contribution

It introduces a method for ultrafast modulation of plasmon signals using direct optical excitation, advancing plasmonics towards terahertz bandwidth applications.

Findings

Femtosecond plasmon pulses can propagate along metal-dielectric waveguides.

Ultrafast optical excitation modulates plasmon signals on femtosecond timescales.

Achieves terahertz-range bandwidth in plasmonic modulation.

Abstract

We report that femtosecond surface plasmon polariton pulses can propagate along a metal-dielectric waveguide and that they can be modulated on the femtosecond timescale by direct ultrafast optical excitation of the metal, thereby offering unprecedented terahertz plasmonic bandwidth - a key missing component in the development of surface plasmons as information carriers for next generation nanophotonic devices.