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Title: Anti-reflection coating design for metallic terahertz meta-materials

Journal Article · · Optics Express
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [2];  [5]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Department of Physics; CIC nanoGUNE Research Centre, Guipuzcoa (Spain)
  2. Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States)
  3. Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Department of Physics
  4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  5. CIC nanoGUNE Research Centre, Guipuzcoa (Spain); KERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science (Spain)

We demonstrate a silicon-based, single-layer anti-reflection coating that suppresses the reflectivity of metals at near-infrared frequencies, enabling optical probing of nano-scale structures embedded in highly reflective surroundings. Our design does not affect the interaction of terahertz radiation with metallic structures that can be used to achieve terahertz near-field enhancement. We have verified the functionality of the design by calculating and measuring the reflectivity of both infrared and terahertz radiation from a silicon/gold double layer as a function of the silicon thickness. We have also fabricated the unit cell of a terahertz meta-material, a dipole antenna comprising two 20-nm thick extended gold plates separated by a 2 μm gap, where the terahertz field is locally enhanced. We used the time-domain finite element method to demonstrate that such near-field enhancement is preserved in the presence of the anti-reflection coating. Finally, we performed magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements on a single 3-nm thick, 1-μm wide magnetic wire placed in the gap of such a dipole antenna. The wire only occupies 2% of the area probed by the laser beam, but its magneto-optical response can be clearly detected. Our design paves the way for ultrafast time-resolved studies, using table-top femtosecond near-infrared lasers, of dynamics in nano-structures driven by strong terahertz radiation.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Swedish Research Council (SRC); European Research Council (ERC); European Union Programme; Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; 600398s; 715452; 737093; MDM-2016-0618; DMR-1504449; ECCS-1509794; E0635001; 2015-SLAC-100238-Funding
OSTI ID:
1418183
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1426160
Journal Information:
Optics Express, Vol. 26, Issue 3; ISSN 1094-4087
Publisher:
Optical Society of America (OSA)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (4)

Terahertz magnetic field enhancement in an asymmetric spiral metamaterial journal October 2018
Active broadband terahertz wave impedance matching based on optically doped graphene–silicon heterojunction journal February 2019
Coupling phenomena and collective effects in resonant meta-atoms supporting both plasmonic and (opto-)magnetic functionalities: an overview on properties and applications [Invited] journal January 2019
Ultra-broad band antireflection coating at mid wave infrared for high efficient germanium optics journal January 2019

Figures / Tables (6)