All-Optical Control of Ultrafast Plasmon Resonances in the Pulse-Driven Extraordinary Optical Transmission

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that ultrafast plasmon resonances in extraordinary optical transmission can be actively tuned using ultrashort light pulses, enabling enhanced control over nanoscale optoelectronic devices without device modification.

Contribution

It introduces a method for all-optical active tuning of plasmon resonances in EOT systems using ultrashort pulses, combining theoretical modeling and simulations.

Findings

3-fold enhancement in EOT signal through optical tuning

Spectral and temporal control of plasmon modes achieved

Theoretical and simulation approaches validate active tuning capabilities

Abstract

Understanding the ultrafast processes at their natural-time scale is crucial for controlling and manipulating nanoscale optoelectronic devices under light-matter interaction. Here, we demonstrate that ultrafast plasmon resonances, attributed to the phenomenon of Extraordinary Optical Transmission (EOT), can be significantly modified by tuning the spectral and temporal properties of the ultrashort light pulse. In this scheme, all-optical active tuning governs spatial and temporal enhancement of plasmon oscillations in the EOT system without device customization. We analyze the spectral and temporal evolution of the system through two approaches. First, we develop a theoretical framework based on the coupled harmonic oscillator model, which analytically describes the dynamics of plasmon modes in the coupled and uncoupled state. Later, we compare the evolution of the system under continuous wave and pulsed illumination. Further, we discuss time-resolved spectral and spatial dynamics of plasmon modes through 3D-FDTD simulation method and wavelet transform. Our results show that optical tuning of oscillation time, intensity, and spectral properties of propagating and localized plasmon modes yields a 3-fold enhancement in the EOT signal. The active tuning of the EOT sensor through ultrashort light pulses pave the way for the development of on-chip photonic devices employing high-resolution imaging and sensing of abundant atomic and molecular systems.