Pulsed interaction in plasmonic nanocavities
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
In this project, extreme plasmonic confinement is used to confine light to the sub-nm scale, and molecules placed in the active region. Pulses tuned to both optical and vibrational resonances will explore their modified dynamics, as well as the interactions between them.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Jeremy Baumberg (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Lukas Jakob (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/R513180/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/09/2023 | |||
| 2275079 | Studentship | EP/R513180/1 | 01/10/2019 | 30/09/2023 | Lukas Jakob |
| Description | Within this project, we have developed a new single-photon detection scheme that can record the arrival times of photons at a detector along with multiple reference frequencies. This allows us to increase the signal-to-noise of low-light applications by several orders of magnitude as well as resolve fast modulations of the light in time with picosecond accuracy. Further, in collaboration with theoretical physicists we have developed and experimentally investigated a model describing the optomechanical interaction of molecular vibrations with highly confined light in plasmonic nanocavities. Strikingly, the extreme optical fields in the cavity can effectively weaken chemical bonds. This opens up opportunities to exploit such systems as optical catalysts, for example for photoinduced decomposition in recycling. Additionally, we have investigated the dynamics of molecular vibrations in plasmonic cavities with coherent excitation. We found that the vibrations decay drastically faster when the molecules are bound to a metal, opening up a range of new research questions about the mechanism of vibrational energy transfer. Understanding the transfer of vibrational energy from molecules to a metal surface is fundamental to a plethora of applications in catalysis. |
| Exploitation Route | As the newly developed single-photon detection technique is available as open-source code, the advancements can be used by the international academic community to enable new research projects. The identified research questions might be followed up on by other researchers in the NanoPhotonics Centre Cambridge. |
| Sectors | Other |
| URL | https://www.np.phy.cam.ac.uk/fpga-system |