Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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TUT: Tutorien

TUT 2: Tutorial on Nanooptics

TUT 2.2: Tutorial

Sunday, March 22, 2009, 16:55–17:35, HSZ 04

Ultrafast Nano-Optics: Applications in Nano-Science — •Christoph Lienau — Institut für Physik, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany

Ultrafast nano-optics is a comparatively young and rapidly growing field of research aiming at probing, manipulating and controlling ultrafast optical excitations on nanometer length scales. The ability to control light on nanometer length and femtosecond time scales opens up exciting possibilities for probing dynamic processes in nanostructures in real time and space. This tutorial gives a brief introduction into the experimental tools of this emerging field and discusses recent progress in in ultrafast nano-optics.

We specifically discuss how ultrafast nano-optical techniques can be used to (i) visualize light propagation in novel photon waveguides, (ii) probe and manipulate coherent optical excitations in individual and dipole-coupled pairs of quantum dots, (iii) probe the dynamics of surface plasmon polariton excitations in metallic nanostructures, (iv) generate novel nanometer-sized ultrafast light and electron sources and (v) to reveal the optical interaction between excitons and surface plasmon polaritons in hybrid metal-semiconductor nanostructures. The results will indicate that combining light localization on nanometer-length and femtosecond time scales carries significant potential for realizing novel optoelectronic devices such as ultrafast nano-optical switches or surface plasmon polariton amplifiers and lasers.