Giant Surface Plasmon Induced Drag Effect (SPIDEr) in Metal Nanowires

TL;DR

This paper predicts a giant surface plasmon-induced drag effect (SPIDEr) in metal nanowires, capable of generating high voltages and electric fields, with ultrafast response suitable for advanced nanotechnologies.

Contribution

It introduces the first prediction of a giant SPIDEr effect in nanowires under extreme nanoplasmonic confinement conditions.

Findings

Rectified THz potential differences up to 10 V

Electric fields up to 10^5-10^6 V/cm

Bandwidth of 20 THz in nanometric wires

Abstract

Here, for the first time we predict a giant surface plasmon-induced drag effect (SPIDEr), which exists under conditions of the extreme nanoplasmonic confinement. Under realistic conditions, in nanowires, this giant SPIDEr generates rectified THz potential differences up to 10 V and extremely strong electric fields up to 10^5-10^6 V/cm. The SPIDEr is an ultrafast effect whose bandwidth for nanometric wires is 20 THz. The giant SPIDEr opens up a new field of ultraintense THz nanooptics with wide potential applications in nanotechnology and nanoscience, including microelectronics,nanoplasmonics, and biomedicine.