Photothermal Effect and Phase Transition in VO2 Enhanced by Plasmonic Particles.

Phase change metasurfaces based on VO2, which are pre-heated with electric current and optically addressed by projected structured light hologram, are considered to become a new paradigm in programmed THz/middle IR flat optics. Macroscopic quasi-homogeneous arrays of Au nanoparticles show large near IR absorption and a significant photothermal effect capable of boosting a light-triggered switching of VO2 and are to be carefully examined. We propose a new approach to simultaneously probe the altered temperature and electric conductivity of a hybrid Au particle-VO2 film composite by monitoring a phase shift and attenuating a surface acoustic wave in a YX128° cut LiNbO3 substrate. The method shows a temperature resolution of 0.1 °C comparable with the best existing techniques for studying nanoobjects and surfaces. The laser-induced photothermal effects were characterized in a macroscopic array of Au nanostars (AuNSts) with different surface coverage. In a monolayer of 10 nm Au, coupled plasmonic nanoparticles were deposited on the LiNbO3 substrate. An optically triggered insulator-metal transition assisted by photothermal effect in AuNSts/VO2/TiO2/LiNbO3 composites was studied at varied light power. We believe that the proposed SAW-based method is of significant importance for the characterization and optimization of radiation absorbing or/and electrically heated elements of metasurfaces and other devices for lab-on-chip and optical communication/processor technology.

Whispering gallery modes in nanosized dielectric resonators with hexagonal cross section.

The size dependence of whispering gallery modes in dielectric resonators with hexagonal cross section has been observed within the visible spectral range for cavity diameters comparable to the light wavelength. As a model system single, tapered, high aspect ratio zinc oxide nanoneedles were analyzed. They enable systematic investigations as a function of the resonator diameter down to the nanometer regime. A simple plane wave interference model without free parameter describes the spectral positions and the linewidths of the modes in good agreement with the experiment.