Infrared Plasmonics with Two-Wire Transmission Lines

P. SARRIUGARTE; M. SCHNELL; P. ALONSO; E. NIKULINA; L. ARZUBIAGA; F. GOLMAR; F. CASANOVA; L. HUESO; A. CHUVILIN; R. HILLENBRAND

San Sebastián

Conferencia; International Near-Field Optics NFO12; 2012

Donostia International Physics Center and CIC nanoGUNE

Metal antennas and transmission lines (TLs) are common devices for receiving and transporting signal in radiofrequency regime. Here, we demonstrate that these devices can be operated at infrared frequencies (~30 THz) [1]. We apply our recently introduced vector near-field microscopy technique [2] for directly visualizing the reception and transport of infrared energy in TLs [3,4]. Particularly, we study TLs on substrates with different refractive indexes (CaF2 and Si), and how IR energy is compressed when the TL is tapered. The results open the door for the development of ultra-small integrated sensor and spectroscopy devices for chemical and (bio)medical diagnostics. [1] P. M. Krenz et al., Opt. Express 18, 21678 (2010). [2] M. Schnell et al., Nano Lett. 10, 3524 (2010). [3] M. Schnell et al., Nature Phot. 5, 283-287 (2011). [4]P. Sarriugarte et al., Opt. Commun. 285, 3328-3382 (2012).