Plasmonic nano-structures for optical data storage.

We propose a method of optical data storage that exploits the small dimensions of metallic nano-particles and/or nano-structures to achieve high storage densities. The resonant behavior of these particles (both individually and in small clusters) in the presence of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light may be used to retrieve pre-recorded information by far-field spectroscopic optical detection. In plasmonic data storage, a very short (approximately few femtoseconds) laser pulse is focused to a diffraction-limited spot over a small region of an optical disk containing metallic nano-structures. The digital data stored in each bit-cell, comprising multiple bits of information, modifies the spectrum of the incident light pulse. This spectrum is subsequently detected, upon reflection/transmission, with the aid of an optical spectrum analyzer. We present theoretical as well as preliminary experimental results that confirm the potential of plasmonic nano-structures for high-density optical data storage applications.

Quadratic solitons in nonconservative media.

We develop a perturbation theory for the evolution of solitary waves in quadratic nonconservative nonlinear media. The expressions derived for the solitons' amplitude and width permit us to estimate straightforwardly the damping-amplification rate of an arbitrary soliton of the unperturbed system. The analytical results obtained agree well with numerical experiments.

Nonlinear phase shift and all-optical switching in quasi-phase-matched quadratic media.

Recently it was shown that in quasi-phase-matched quadratic media the average intensities are subject to an induced Kerr effect. We analytically study the influence of this induced cubic nonlinearity on the amplitude and phase modulation of the fundamental wave and predict efficient all-optical switching.