Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 27: Plasmonics and nanooptics: Light-matter interaction, spectroscopy – Poster

O 27.6: Poster

Monday, March 9, 2026, 18:00–20:00, P2

Hot electron generation in tapered plasmonic waveguides — •Ferdinand Bauer, Valentin Dichtl, Marcell Schalling, Thorsten Schumacher, and Markus Lippitz — University of Bayreuth, Germany

The efficient generation of hot electrons is important for applications such as photochemical catalysis. Hot electron-hole pairs are created by Landau damping of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) and decay through electron-electron scattering.

A symmetric taper in a waveguide enhances the generation of hot electrons. At one end the waveguide is excited by a laser pulse. The emission at the other end is then used as a metric for the transmission and thus the creation of hot electrons.

Numerical simulations (COMSOL) are used to find a high energy density at the hot spot. Within the simulations, Beer's law holds for a broad range of taper lengths and can be used to make geometry optimisation more efficient.

We demonstrate how to maximize energy density in the waveguide hot spot by using numerical simulations and experimental data, thereby optimising the production of hot electrons.

Keywords: Nano structure; Plasmonics; Hot Electron