Lithium niobate (LN) has been the material of choice for electro-optic modulators owing to its excellent physical properties. While conventional LN electro-optic modulators continue to be the ...workhorse of the modern optoelectronics, they are becoming progressively too bulky, expensive, and power-hungry to fully serve the needs of this industry. Here, we demonstrate plasmonic electro-optic directional coupler switches consisting of two closely spaced nm-thin gold nanostripes on LN substrates that guide both coupled electromagnetic modes and electrical signals that control their coupling, thereby enabling ultra-compact switching and modulation functionalities. Extreme confinement and good spatial overlap of both slow-plasmon modes and electrostatic fields created by the nanostripes allow us to achieve a 90% modulation depth with 20-μm-long switches characterized by a broadband electro-optic modulation efficiency of 0.3 V cm. Our monolithic LN plasmonic platform enables a wide range of cost-effective optical communication applications that demand μm-scale footprints, ultrafast operation and high environmental stability.
We report thorough measurements of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) running along nearly perfect air-gold interfaces formed by atomically flat surfaces of chemically synthesized gold monocrystals. ...By means of amplitude- and phase-resolved near-field microscopy, we obtain their propagation length and effective mode index at visible wavelengths (532, 594, 632.8, 729, and 800 nm). The measured values are compared with the values obtained from the dielectric functions of gold that are reported in literature. Importantly, a reported dielectric function of monocrystalline gold implies ∼1.5 times shorter propagation lengths than those observed in our experiments, whereas a dielectric function reported for properly fabricated polycrystalline gold leads to SPP propagation lengths matching our results. We argue that the SPP propagation lengths measured in our experiments signify the ultimate limit of optical losses in gold, encouraging further comprehensive characterization of optical material properties of pure gold as well as other plasmonic materials.
Strongly confined surface plasmon-polariton modes can be used for efficiently delivering the electromagnetic energy to nanosized volumes by reducing the cross sections of propagating modes far beyond ...the diffraction limit, that is, by nanofocusing. This process results in significant local-field enhancement that can advantageously be exploited in modern optical nanotechnologies, including signal processing, biochemical sensing, imaging, and spectroscopy. Here, we propose, analyze, and experimentally demonstrate on-chip nanofocusing followed by impedance-matched nanowire antenna excitation in the end-fire geometry at telecom wavelengths. Numerical and experimental evidence of the efficient excitation of dipole and quadrupole (dark) antenna modes are provided, revealing underlying physical mechanisms and analogies with the operation of plane-wave Fabry-Pérot interferometers. The unique combination of efficient nanofocusing and nanoantenna resonant excitation realized in our experiments offers a major boost to the field intensity enhancement up to ∼12000, with the enhanced field being evenly distributed over the gap volume of 30 × 30 × 10 nm3, and promises thereby a variety of useful on-chip functionalities within sensing, nonlinear spectroscopy and signal processing.
Historically, the field of plasmonics has been relying on the framework of classical electrodynamics, with the local-response approximation of material response being applied even when dealing with ...nanoscale metallic structures. However, when the confinement of electromagnetic radiation approaches atomic scales, mesoscopic effects are anticipated to become observable, e.g., those associated with the nonlocal electrodynamic surface response of the electron gas. Here, we investigate nonlocal effects in propagating gap surface plasmon modes in ultrathin metal-dielectric-metal planar waveguides, exploiting monocrystalline gold flakes separated by atomic-layer-deposited aluminum oxide. We use scanning near-field optical microscopy to directly access the near-field of such confined gap plasmon modes and measure their dispersion relation via their complex-valued propagation constants. We compare our experimental findings with the predictions of the generalized nonlocal optical response theory to unveil signatures of nonlocal damping, which becomes appreciable for few-nanometer-sized dielectric gaps.
We demonstrate the use of amplitude- and phase-resolved near-field mapping for direct characterization of plasmonic slot waveguide mode propagation and excitation with nanocouplers in the telecom ...wavelength range. We measure mode’s propagation length, effective index and field distribution and directly evaluate the relative coupling efficiencies for various couplers configurations. We report 26- and 15-fold improvements in the coupling efficiency with two serially connected dipole and modified bow-tie antennas, respectively, as compared to that of the short-circuited waveguide termination.
Abstract
The influence of the size of a cathode gap on the initiation of the effect of a hollow cathode in a glow discharge system with an extended hollow cathode in the forevacuum pressure range is ...shown. It was found that the threshold current for the transition of the discharge to the burning mode with a hollow cathode is determined by the ratio of the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the cathode slit. With a decrease in the width of the slot, the threshold current increases disproportionately; at the same time, with an increase in the length of the slot, this current sharply decreases.
Abstract
The article presents the results of electron beam sintering without applying pressure of Mn-Zn ferrites in an oxygen environment. Samples for sintering were made from fine powders and ...pressed at various pressures into compacts in the form of disks. Measurements of the elemental composition and structure of the sample after sintering are presented. It is shown that the result of sintering depends on the pressing pressure of compacts, time and temperature of sintering.
Abstract
The article presents the results of experiments aimed at studying the effect of low-energy thermoelectrons on the parameters of the beam plasma and plasma of the beam-plasma discharge ...generated during the transportation of a powerful electron beam in the pressure range of the medium vacuum. It is shown that the injection of a sufficiently small current of low-energy thermoelectrons is capable of violating the conditions for the combustion of the beam-plasma discharge and reducing the power loss of the electron beam for SPR generation. In this case, the plasma concentration decreases by almost an order of magnitude (to 10
15
m
–3
) and the temperature of plasma electrons decreases by almost three (to 0.3 eV).
Heritability of human lifespan is 23-33% as evident from twin studies. Genome-wide association studies explored this question by linking particular alleles to lifespan traits. However, genetic ...variants identified so far can explain only a small fraction of lifespan heritability in humans. Here, we report that the burden of rarest protein-truncating variants (PTVs) in two large cohorts is negatively associated with human healthspan and lifespan, accounting for 0.4 and 1.3 years of their variability, respectively. In addition, longer-living individuals possess both fewer rarest PTVs and less damaging PTVs. We further estimated that somatic accumulation of PTVs accounts for only a small fraction of mortality and morbidity acceleration and hence is unlikely to be causal in aging. We conclude that rare damaging mutations, both inherited and accumulated throughout life, contribute to the aging process, and that burden of ultra-rare variants in combination with common alleles better explain apparent heritability of human lifespan.
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