PLASMONICS

Plasmonics is an emerging branch of optics in which wavelength scale structures in metal films couple light into surface plasmons (quantized electromagnetic excitations confined to the metal surface). Plasmonics allows conventional optical components such as lenses, filters, waveguides, etc. to be implemented in an ultra-compact, planar format. ITN has been actively researching a wide range of plasmonic applications beginning in 2003, including near field optical probes, CMOS compatible waveguides and optical modulators, engineered substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, improved thin film photovoltaics, detectors for THz radiation, narrow bandwidth long wave infrared spectral filters for chemical sensing, and visible wavelength spectral and polarization filters for imaging focal plane arrays. Our development combines ITN’s expertise in nanofabrication and thin-film processing with the modeling and characterization expertise of the plasmonics group in the physics department of the Colorado School of Mines.