New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Optics and Lasers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 17618

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Special Issue Editor

Udmurt Federal Research Center UB RAS, 426067 Izhevsk, Russia
Interests: laser; nonlinear optics; nanostructured materials; photocurrent; laser spectroscopy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

2021 marks the 60th anniversary of the first experiment on the generation of the ruby laser ​​second harmonic radiation in crystalline quartz. This event, which followed the invention of high-power lasers, gave an impulse to the almost synchronous discovery of other equally impressive nonlinear optical phenomena (self-focusing and self-defocusing of a laser beam, multiphoton and saturable light absorption, stimulated Raman and stimulated Mandelstam-Brillouin scattering of light, etc.) in bulk media. For a long time, nonlinear optics remained a rapidly and dynamically developing field of science. Currently, nonlinear optics has received a new breath, which is associated with the study of nanostructures. This was facilitated by the leaps made in the development of nanotechnologies, which enable the production of planar metamaterials, various nanostructures, 2D and plasmonic materials, as well as tremendous advances in the creation of a wide variety of laser sources operating in a wide spectral range and generating very short light pulses comparable to the period of the light field.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for researchers to share the latest advancements in Nonlinear Optics in nanostructures and Plasmonics. Potential  topics  include  but  are  not  limited  to  the following:

  • theory, simulation, applications and experimental studies of nonlinear optical effects on surfaces and interfaces, in 2D-dimensional systems, nanostructures, and plasmonics;
  • plasmonic and hybrid plasmonic nanostructures for enhanced nonlinear optics;
  • terahertz radiation generation in nanostructured materials;
  • nonlinear optical diagnostics of nanostructures;
  • photocurrent and photovoltage in nanostructures and  plasmonic materials induced by nonlinear optical effects;
  • photothermal nonlinearity in nanostructured materials

Prof. Dr. Gennady M. Mikheev
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • nonlinear optics
  • laser
  • nanostructures
  • plasmonics
  • 2D-dimensional systems
  • surfaces and interfaces
  • nonlinear spectroscopy
  • photocurrent
  • photovoltage
  • photothermal nonlinearity

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 166 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue on New Trends in Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics
by Gennady M. Mikheev
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(20), 11601; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132011601 - 23 Oct 2023
Viewed by 607
Abstract
Nonlinear optics, which emerged in the early 60s of the 20th century, immediately after the invention of powerful lasers, had a significant influence on the formation of modern photonics [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

10 pages, 4928 KiB  
Article
Nonlinear Optical Microscopy of Interface Layers of Epitaxial Garnet Films
by Anton Maydykovskiy, Marina Temiryazeva, Alexey Temiryazev and Tatiana Murzina
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(15), 8828; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13158828 - 31 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 680
Abstract
The structure of magnetic domains is an exciting research object that shows an enormous variety of delightful patterns. Epitaxial garnet is one of the most studied magnetic dielectrics with well-recognized bulk domains, while the magnetic composition at the surface is less investigated. Here [...] Read more.
The structure of magnetic domains is an exciting research object that shows an enormous variety of delightful patterns. Epitaxial garnet is one of the most studied magnetic dielectrics with well-recognized bulk domains, while the magnetic composition at the surface is less investigated. Here we apply the nonlinear optical microscopy technique for the visualization of the interface magnetic domains of 10 μm thick (LuBi)3Fe5O12 film and prove that it is qualitatively similar for both garnet/air and garnet/substrate interfaces. As an efficient extension of the second harmonic generation microscopy, we suggest and demonstrate the possibilities of the third harmonic generation one, which provides higher resolution of the method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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9 pages, 452 KiB  
Article
Edge Currents Induced by AC Electric Field in Two-Dimensional Dirac Structures
by Mikhail V. Durnev and Sergey A. Tarasenko
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 4080; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13074080 - 23 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 957
Abstract
Edges in two-dimensional structures are the source of nonlinear transport and optical phenomena which are particularly important in small-size flakes. We present a microscopic theory of the edge photogalvanic effect, i.e., the formation of DC electric current flowing along the sample edges in [...] Read more.
Edges in two-dimensional structures are the source of nonlinear transport and optical phenomena which are particularly important in small-size flakes. We present a microscopic theory of the edge photogalvanic effect, i.e., the formation of DC electric current flowing along the sample edges in response to AC electric field of the incident terahertz radiation, for two-dimensional Dirac materials including the systems with massive and massless charge carriers. The edge current direction is controlled by the AC field polarization. The spectral dependence of the current is determined by the carrier dispersion and the mechanism of carrier scattering, as shown for single-layer and bilayer graphene as examples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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8 pages, 2069 KiB  
Communication
Tiling Photonic Topological Insulator for Laser Applications
by Petr N. Kim, Dmitry P. Fedchenko, Natalya V. Rudakova and Ivan V. Timofeev
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 4004; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13064004 - 21 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1144
Abstract
A photonic topological insulator is a structure that isolates radiation in the bulk rather than at the edge (surface). Paradoxically, applications of such an insulator focus on its conducting edge states, which are robust against structural defects. We suggest a tiling photonic topological [...] Read more.
A photonic topological insulator is a structure that isolates radiation in the bulk rather than at the edge (surface). Paradoxically, applications of such an insulator focus on its conducting edge states, which are robust against structural defects. We suggest a tiling photonic topological insulator constructed from identical prism resonators connected to each other. The light beam circulates inside the tiling bulk without propagation. However, we experimentally demonstrate a topologically-protected propagating state due to the disconnected faces of the edge resonators. The investigated state is robust against removing or attaching prism resonators. Moreover, the protection principle is phase-free and therefore highly scalable both in wavelength and resonator size. The tiling is suggested for active topological photonic devices and laser arrays. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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13 pages, 2960 KiB  
Article
Carbon Dots with Up-Conversion Luminescence as pH Nanosensor
by Kirill Laptinskiy, Maria Khmeleva, Alexey Vervald, Sergey Burikov and Tatiana Dolenko
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(23), 12006; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122312006 - 24 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1336
Abstract
In this study, the up-conversion luminescence for aqueous suspensions of carbon dots with polyfunctional and carboxylated surfaces synthesized by a hydrothermal method was investigated. The obtained quadratic dependence of the luminescence intensity on the power of the exciting radiation indicates that the up-conversion [...] Read more.
In this study, the up-conversion luminescence for aqueous suspensions of carbon dots with polyfunctional and carboxylated surfaces synthesized by a hydrothermal method was investigated. The obtained quadratic dependence of the luminescence intensity on the power of the exciting radiation indicates that the up-conversion luminescence of these carbon dots is caused by two-photon absorption. The optimal wavelength of the exciting radiation was determined for the studied samples. The dependences of the signal for the up-conversion luminescence of carbon dots on the pH value of the suspension were obtained. It was shown that these carbon dots can be used as the nanosensor of pH of liquid media in a wide range of pH values. The advantage of this nanosensor is that the excitation of the up-conversion luminescence of carbon dots does not entail excitation of autoluminescence of the biological medium. It expands the possibilities of using this sensor in biomedical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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17 pages, 2851 KiB  
Article
Incident Angle Dependence of the Waveform of the Polarization-Sensitive Photoresponse in CuSe/Se Thin Film
by Arseniy E. Fateev, Tatyana N. Mogileva, Vladimir Ya. Kogai, Konstantin G. Mikheev and Gennady M. Mikheev
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(14), 6869; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12146869 - 07 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1616
Abstract
The results of studying the waveforms of longitudinal and transverse photocurrent pulses generated in thin, semitransparent CuSe/Se films as a function of the angle of incidence (α) of a femtosecond laser beam at linear and circular polarizations are presented. It has been established [...] Read more.
The results of studying the waveforms of longitudinal and transverse photocurrent pulses generated in thin, semitransparent CuSe/Se films as a function of the angle of incidence (α) of a femtosecond laser beam at linear and circular polarizations are presented. It has been established that the durations of unipolar longitudinal photocurrent pulses at linear and circular polarizations of laser pumping do not depend on the angle α. It is shown that the evolution of the temporal profile of the helicity-sensitive transverse photocurrent with a change in α strongly depends on polarization. At linear polarization, the shape of the unipolar pulses remains virtually constant; however, at circular polarization, the generation of unipolar and bipolar pulses is possible, with the waveforms strongly depending on the angle α. The influence of the incidence angle on the waveforms of transverse photocurrent pulses is explained by the transformation of linear and circular polarization into an elliptical upon the refraction of light at the air/semitransparent film interface and by the interplay of photocurrents arising due to linear and circular surface photogalvanic effects in the film. The presented findings can be utilized to develop polarization and incidence angle-sensitive photovoltaic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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24 pages, 17346 KiB  
Article
Full Explicit Numerical Modeling in Time-Domain for Nonlinear Electromagnetics Simulations in Ultrafast Laser Nanostructuring
by Enrique Moreno, Huu Dat Nguyen, Razvan Stoian and Jean-Philippe Colombier
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(16), 7429; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11167429 - 12 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1891
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present a new and accurate, fully explicit finite-difference time-domain method for modeling nonlinear electromagnetics. The approach relies on a stable algorithm based on a general vector auxiliary differential equation in order to solve the curl Maxwell’s [...] Read more.
The purpose of this paper is to present a new and accurate, fully explicit finite-difference time-domain method for modeling nonlinear electromagnetics. The approach relies on a stable algorithm based on a general vector auxiliary differential equation in order to solve the curl Maxwell’s equation in a frequency-dependent and nonlinear medium. The energy conservation and stability of the presented scheme are theoretically proved. The algorithms presented here can accurately describe laser pulse interaction with metals and nonlinear dielectric media interfaces where Kerr and Raman effects, as well as multiphoton ionization and metal dispersion, occur simultaneously. The approach is finally illustrated by simulating the nonlinear propagation of an ultrafast laser pulse through a dielectric medium transiently turning to inhomogeneous metal-like states by local free-electron plasma formation. This free carrier generation can also be localized in the dielectric region surrounding nanovoids and embedded metallic nanoparticles, and may trigger collective effects depending on the distance between them. The proposed numerical approach can also be applied to deal with full-wave electromagnetic simulations of optical guided systems where nonlinear effects play an important role and cannot be neglected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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11 pages, 21683 KiB  
Article
Terahertz Photoconductive Antenna Based on a Topological Insulator Nanofilm
by Kirill A. Kuznetsov, Daniil A. Safronenkov, Petr I. Kuznetsov and Galiya Kh. Kitaeva
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 5580; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11125580 - 16 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2453
Abstract
In this study, the efficient generation of terahertz radiation by a dipole photoconductive antenna, based on a thin island film of a topological insulator, was experimentally demonstrated. The performance of the Bi1.9Sb0.1Te2Se antenna was shown to be [...] Read more.
In this study, the efficient generation of terahertz radiation by a dipole photoconductive antenna, based on a thin island film of a topological insulator, was experimentally demonstrated. The performance of the Bi1.9Sb0.1Te2Se antenna was shown to be no worse than those of a semiconductor photoconductive antenna, which is an order of magnitude thicker. The current–voltage characteristics were studied for the photo and dark currents in Bi1.9Sb0.1Te2Se. The possible mechanisms for generating terahertz waves were analyzed by comparing the characteristics of terahertz radiation of an electrically biased and unbiased topological insulator. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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16 pages, 4232 KiB  
Article
Femtosecond Optical Nonlinearity of Nanodiamond Suspensions
by Gennady M. Mikheev, Viatcheslav V. Vanyukov, Tatyana N. Mogileva, Konstantin G. Mikheev, Alexander N. Aleksandrovich, Nicholas A. Nunn and Olga A. Shenderova
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 5455; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11125455 - 11 Jun 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2121
Abstract
High pressure-high temperature (HP-HT) nanodiamonds and detonation nanodiamonds have unique optical properties and are promising materials for various applications in photonics. In this work, for the first time, comparative studies of the nonlinear optical properties of aqueous suspensions of HP-HT and detonation nanodiamonds [...] Read more.
High pressure-high temperature (HP-HT) nanodiamonds and detonation nanodiamonds have unique optical properties and are promising materials for various applications in photonics. In this work, for the first time, comparative studies of the nonlinear optical properties of aqueous suspensions of HP-HT and detonation nanodiamonds under femtosecond laser excitation are performed. Using the z-scan technique, it was found that for the same laser pulse parameters HP-HT nanodiamonds exhibited optical limiting due to two-photon absorption while detonation nanodiamonds exhibited saturable absorption accompanied by short-term optical bleaching, revealing the different electronic-gap structures of the two types of nanodiamonds. The saturable absorption properties of detonation nanodiamonds are characterized by determining the saturable and non-saturable absorption coefficients, the saturation intensity, and the ratio of saturable to non-saturable losses. The nonlinear absorption in HP-HT nanodiamonds is described with the nonlinear absorption coefficient that decreases with decreasing concentration of nanoparticles linearly. The results obtained show the possibility of using aqueous suspensions of nanodiamonds for saturable absorption and optical limiting applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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14 pages, 1529 KiB  
Article
Reexamining Different Factors of the Resonance-Enhanced High-Order Harmonic Generation in Atomic and Nanoparticle Laser-Induced Tin Plasmas
by Rashid A. Ganeev and Hiroto Kuroda
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2193; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052193 - 03 Mar 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1433
Abstract
We reexamine the resonance enhancement of a single harmonic emission during the propagation of ultrafast pulses through atomic and nanoparticle tin-containing laser-induced plasma (LIP). We compare the single atomic Sn and Sn nanoparticle plasmas to demonstrate a distinction in the enhancement factor of [...] Read more.
We reexamine the resonance enhancement of a single harmonic emission during the propagation of ultrafast pulses through atomic and nanoparticle tin-containing laser-induced plasma (LIP). We compare the single atomic Sn and Sn nanoparticle plasmas to demonstrate a distinction in the enhancement factor of the single harmonic in the case of fixed and tunable near-infrared pulses. The analysis of the dynamics of Sn LIP shows the range of optimal delays between heating and driving pulses (130–180 ns), at which the maximal harmonic yield can be achieved. The enhancements of the 17th and 18th harmonics of 806 nm pulses were analyzed in the case of single-color and two-color pumps of LIP, showing up to a 12-fold enhancement of even harmonics in the two-color pump case. We show the enhancement of a single harmonic in the vicinity of the 4d105s25p2P3/2→4d95s25p2 transitions of Sn II ions and demonstrate how this process depends on the constituency of the plasma components at different conditions of target ablation. The application of tunable (1280–1440 nm) radiation allows for demonstrating the variations of single harmonic enhancement using a two-color pump of Sn-containing LIP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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13 pages, 1985 KiB  
Article
Probing Laser Plasma Dynamics Using High-Order Harmonics Generation in Carbon-Containing Nanomaterials
by Rashid A. Ganeev, Vyacheslav V. Kim, Konda Srinivasa Rao and Chunlei Guo
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 2143; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11052143 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1858
Abstract
We study high-order harmonics generation from plasmas generated from graphite, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, diamond nanoparticles, and graphene. Our approach utilizes a heating nanosecond laser pulse to produce plasmas that serve as the media for high harmonic generation from a subsequent driven [...] Read more.
We study high-order harmonics generation from plasmas generated from graphite, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, diamond nanoparticles, and graphene. Our approach utilizes a heating nanosecond laser pulse to produce plasmas that serve as the media for high harmonic generation from a subsequent driven femtosecond laser pulse. High harmonics are generated at different time delays following the plasma formation, which allows us to analyze the spreading of species with different masses. We analyze the harmonic yields from species of single carbon atom, 60 atoms (fullerene), 106 atoms (diamond nanoparticles), 109 atoms (CNTs and CNFs), and even much larger species of graphene sheets. The harmonic yields are analyzed in the range of 100 ns–1 ms delays. The harmonic yields were significantly higher within the 200 ns–0.5 µs range, but no harmonic is observed between 10 µs–1 ms. Our observations show that, at the optimal ablation of atoms and clusters, the laser-induced plasmas produced on the surfaces of different carbon-contained species spread out from targets with the comparable velocities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends on Nonlinear Optics in Nanostructures and Plasmonics)
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