| AVS 66th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Division | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session NS-WeM |
| Session: | Optics and Scattering on the Nanoscale |
| Presenter: | Vanessa Breslin, National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Authors: | V.M. Breslin, National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow A.B. Grafton, National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow D.C. Ratchford, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory A.J. Giles, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory K.P. Fears, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory C.R. So, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory D.S. Katzer, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory C.T. Ellis, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory J.G. Tischler, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory J.D. Caldwell, Vanderbilt University A.D. Dunkelberger, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory J.C. Owrutsky, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Plasmonic materials can be used for surface enhanced infrared absorption, a particularly useful technique for chemical sensing applications, but these materials typically suffer from high optical loss due to the fast scattering of electrons, which results in broad optical resonances. In contrast, surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) have much lower losses because of the slower scattering rates of phonons, resulting in narrower resonance bands. In particular, our group is investigating polar dielectric inorganic crystals that have mid-IR Reststrahlen bands, frequency ranges where the crystals’ optical constants resemble metals and can support SPhP resonances. Currently, our efforts are focused on studying the optical properties of W(CO)6 and calcite (CaCO3) crystals in the mid-IR. We are also experimenting with using a helium ion microscope, a gallium focused ion beam, and other lithographic techniques to nanostructure the surface of these polar dielectric materials in order to generate SPhPs for sub-diffraction optical confinement of mid-IR incident light. The results of these studies will allow us to better understand how to tune SPhPs in a broader spectral range with different inorganic materials and provide a basis for exploring how these resonances interact with other chemical systems through enhanced spectroscopies and energy transfer.