Plasmon-mediated magneto-optical transparency.

Belotelov, V I; Kreilkamp, L E; Akimov, I A; Kalish, A N; Bykov, D A; Kasture, S; Yallapragada, V J; Venu Gopal, Achanta et al. · Nat Commun · 2013

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Magnetic field control of light is among the most intriguing methods for modulation of light intensity and polarization on sub-nanosecond timescales. The implementation in nanostructured hybrid materials provides a remarkable increase of magneto-optical effects. However, so far only the enhancement of already known effects has been demonstrated in such materials. Here we postulate a novel magneto-optical phenomenon that originates solely from suitably designed nanostructured metal-dielectric material, the so-called magneto-plasmonic crystal. In this material, an incident light excites coupled plasmonic oscillations and a waveguide mode. An in-plane magnetic field allows excitation of an orthogonally polarized waveguide mode that modifies optical spectrum of the magneto-plasmonic crystal and increases its transparency. The experimentally achieved light intensity modulation reaches 24%. As the effect can potentially exceed 100%, it may have great importance for applied nanophotonics. Further, the effect allows manipulating and exciting waveguide modes by a magnetic field and light of proper polarization.