We propose an optical weighing technique with a sensitivity down to a single atom through the coupling between a surface plasmon and a suspended graphene nanoribbon resonator. The mass is determined via the vibrational frequency shift on the probe absorption spectrum while the atom attaches to the nanoribbon surface. We provide methods to separate out the signals of the ultralow frequency vibrational modes from the strong Rayleigh background, first based on the quantum coupling with a pump-probe scheme. Owing to the spectral enhancement in the surface plasmon and the ultralight mass of the nanoribbon, this scheme results in a narrow linewidth (～GHz) and ultrahigh mass sensitivity (～30 yg). Benefitting from the low noises, our optical mass sensor can be achieved at room temperature and reach ultrahigh time resolution.

Optical trapping techniques are of great interest since they have the advantage of enabling the direct handling of nanoparticles. Among various optical trapping systems, photonic crystal nanobeam cavities have attracted great attention for integrated on-chip trapping and manipulation. However, optical trapping with high efficiency and low input power is still a big challenge in nanobeam cavities because most of the light energy is confined within the solid dielectric region. To this end, by incorporating a nanoslotted structure into an ultracompact one-dimensional photonic crystal nanobeam cavity structure, we design a promising on-chip device with ultralarge trapping potential depth to enhance the optical trapping characteristic of the cavity. In this work, we first provide a systematic analysis of the optical trapping force for an airborne polystyrene (PS) nanoparticle trapped in a cavity model. Then, to validate the theoretical analysis, the numerical simulation proof is demonstrated in detail by using the three-dimensional finite element method. For trapping a PS nanoparticle of 10 nm radius within the air-slot, a maximum trapping force as high as 8.28 nN/mW and a depth of trapping potential as large as 1.15×105 kBT mW 1 are obtained, where kB is the Boltzmann constant and T is the system temperature. We estimate a lateral trapping stiffness of 167.17 pN·nm 1· mW 1 for a 10 nm radius PS nanoparticle along the cavity x-axis, more than two orders of magnitude higher than previously demonstrated on-chip, near field traps. Moreover, the threshold power for stable trapping as low as 0.087 μW is achieved. In addition, trapping of a single 25 nm radius PS nanoparticle causes a 0.6 nm redshift in peak wavelength. Thus, the proposed cavity device can be used to detect single nanoparticle trapping by monitoring the resonant peak wavelength shift. We believe that the architecture with features of an ultracompact footprint, high integrability with optical waveguides/circuits, and efficient trapping demonstrated here will provide a promising candidate for developing a lab-on-a-chip device with versatile functionalities.

Typically, photonic waveguides designed for nonlinear frequency conversion rely on intuitive and established principles, including index guiding and bandgap engineering, and are based on simple shapes with high degrees of symmetry. We show that recently developed inverse-design techniques can be applied to discover new kinds of microstructured fibers and metasurfaces designed to achieve large nonlinear frequency-conversion efficiencies. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate complex, wavelength-scale chalcogenide glass fibers and gallium phosphide three-dimensional metasurfaces exhibiting some of the largest nonlinear conversion efficiencies predicted thus far, e.g., lowering the power requirement for third-harmonic generation by 104 and enhancing second-harmonic generation conversion efficiency by 107. Such enhancements arise because, in addition to enabling a great degree of tunability in the choice of design wavelengths, these optimization tools ensure both frequency- and phase-matching in addition to large nonlinear overlap factors.

Indefinite media with mixed signs of dielectric tensor elements possess unbounded equifrequency surfaces that have been utilized for diverse applications such as superimaging, enhanced spontaneous emission, and thermal radiation. One particularly interesting application of indefinite media is an optical cavity supporting anomalous scaling laws. In this Letter, we show that by replacing an indefinite medium with magnetized plasma one can construct a tunable indefinite cavity. The magnetized plasma model is based on realistic semiconductor material properties at terahertz frequencies that show hyperbolic dispersion in a certain frequency regime. The hyperbolic dispersion features are utilized for the design of optical cavities. Dramatically different sizes of cavities can support the same resonance mode at the same frequency. For a cavity of fixed size, the anomalous scaling law between the resonance frequency and mode number is confirmed. The resonance frequency can be strongly modulated by changing the strength of the applied magnetic field. The proposed model provides active controllability of terahertz resonances on the deep subwavelength scale with realistic semiconductor materials.

Plasmonic grating structures have been shown effective at increasing near-field optical enhancement. A doublewidth plasmonic grating design is introduced, where each period has two alternating metal widths separated by a nanogap. With this new design, analysis has shown that plasmonic resonances couple between each metal section, resulting in even greater optical enhancement compared with single-width gratings. The geometry that gives the greatest optical enhancement has been determined with a computational model. This work demonstrates that the increased enhancement is due to hybridized modes that couple between the two grating segments.

We demonstrate the confinement of broadband optical energy in the visible to near-infrared regime in a threedimensional nanoscale volume with high energy efficiency in a nanostructure consisting of multiple nanoslits in dielectric chacolgenide material. We find that a broadband optical field can be confined down to the scale of 1 nm (λ∕650) with a confinement volume of λ3∕3 × 10<参考文献原文>The figure of merit of the nanostructure can be up to 10 times that achieved by plasmonic lensing and nanofocusing. Our work opens a new way for truly nanoscaled photonics applicable to nanolithograpy, nanoimaging, lab-on-chip nanosensing, single-molecule detection, and nanospectroscopy.