Plasmon-mediated magneto-optical transparency

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 2128
• Main Authors: Belotelov, V. I., Kreilkamp, L. E., Akimov, I. A., Kalish, A. N., Bykov, D. A., Kasture, S., Yallapragada, V. J., Venu Gopal, Achanta, Grishin, A. M., Khartsev, S. I., Nur-E-Alam, M., Vasiliev, M., Doskolovich, L. L., Yakovlev, D. R., Alameh, K., Zvezdin, A. K., Bayer, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 2013; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Pub. Group
• Subjects: 639/766/400/1101; 639/925/927/1021; Crystals; Enhancement; Ferromagnetic-Films; Gratings; Humanities and Social Sciences; Magnetic-Field; multidisciplinary; Permittivity; Resonance; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Transmission
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3128

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. Magneto-optical effects, where magnetic fields affect light propagating through a material, are of interest for photonic devices such as switches. The magneto-optical effect discovered here in metal-dielectric nanostructures shows a strong light modulation that is suitable for nanophotonic applications.