title: Light-induced switching between structural forms with different optical properties in a single gallium nanoparticulate.
abstract: In a single gallium nanoparticulate, self-assembled (from an atomic beam) in a nanoaperture at the tip of a tapered optical fiber, we have observed reversible light-induced reflectivity changes associated with a sequence of transformations between a number of structural forms with different optical properties, stimulated by optical excitation at nanowatt power levels. The ability to change the optical properties of a nanoparticulate using structural transformations provides a new mechanism for photonic functionality on the nanoscale.
authors.affiliation: EPSRC Nanophotonics Portfolio Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Bruno F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Kevin F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Vassili A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Fedotov
authors.forename: Nikolay I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Zheludev