Surface Plasmon Polariton (SPP), as a novel information carrier, offers unprecedented opportunity for confining electromagnetic fields that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) to subwavelength dimensions. In this thesis, I focus experimentally on the generation, manipulation, and spatio-temporal evolution—and theoretically on the analytical modeling—of plasmonic phase singularities, known as plasmonic vortices, at the silver (Ag)/vacuum interface. I image and study the dynamics of plasmonic vortices by interferometric time-resolved multi-photon photoemission electron microscopy (ITR-mP-PEEM). Firstly, I report on the generation, evolution, and topological properties of plasmonic vortices carrying pure geometrically induced orbital angular momentum (OAM), generated by illuminating Archimedean spiral coupling structures with normally incident, linearly polarized light. Next, I present an analytical model describing the generation and evolution of these plasmonic vortices, and based on this model, I further analyze their spatial structure and dynamics. I also derived the spin angular momentum (SAM) of plasmonic vortices, whose textures reveal transient plasmonic spin-Skyrmion topological quasiparticles. In parallel, I also record images of plasmonic vectoral vortex field evolution on the nanometer spatial and femtosecond temporal scale, from which I derive the plasmonic spin Skyrmion boundary and topological charge. The excellent agreement between analytical model and experimental results confirms the topological spin texture at surface plasmon polariton vortex core. To extend the understanding of ITR-PEEM imaging, I perform a simple experiment withv double line coupling structure at the silver/vacuum interface, which reveals an asymmetric cross term between the different components of the SPP field that also appear in the ITR-PEEM imaging. Finally, I approach a novel method to manipulate momentum transport between two plasmonic vortices analytically and experimentally. By tuning the relative distance between two vortex generator structures with same sign and sign of the geometric charge, a conveyor belt-like field could be observed at the center of the device, which can be applied to transport the field, momentum, and energy between two plasmonic vortices.
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Temporally deuterogenic plasmonic vortices
Abstract Over the past decade, orbital angular momentum has garnered considerable interest in the field of plasmonics owing to the emergence of surface-confined vortices, known as plasmonic vortices. Significant progress has been made in the generation and manipulation of plasmonic vortices, which broadly unveil the natures of plasmonic spin–orbit coupling and provide accessible means for light–matter interactions. However, traditional characterizations in the frequency domain miss some detailed information on the plasmonic vortex evolution process. Herein, an exotic spin–orbit coupling phenomenon is demonstrated. More specifically, we theoretically investigated and experimentally verified a temporally deuterogenic vortex mode, which can be observed only in the time domain and interferes destructively in the intensity field. The spatiotemporal evolution of this concomitant vortex can be tailored with different designs and incident beams. This work extends the fundamental understanding of plasmonic spin–orbit coupling and provides a unique optical force manipulation strategy, which may fuel plasmonic research and applications in the near future.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2114103
- PAR ID:
- 10538224
- Publisher / Repository:
- De Gruyter
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nanophotonics
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 2192-8614
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 955 to 963
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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