title: Surface plasmon polariton induced optical amplitude and phase modulation in sub-wavelength apertures.
abstract: We report on the amplitude and phase modulation of picosecond optical pulses, near λ = 800 nm, transmitted through sub-wavelength rectangular apertures in thin gold films with thicknesses of λ/10 at per-pulse energies of <0.3 nJ or 9 pJ per aperture. Due to the excitation and strong confinement of surface plasmon polaritons in the apertures, the leading edge of a pulse causes a rapid heating of the electrons and lattice to modulate its falling edge. By comparing cross-correlation frequency resolved optical gating measurements with simulations, the thermal effects responsible for the induced pulse dynamics are identified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. arash.joushaghani@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joushaghani
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: J Stewart
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Aitchison
authors.forename: Joyce K S
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Poon
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006046:Gold