All-optical control of ultrafast plasmon resonances in the pulse-driven extraordinary optical transmission

Abstract

Abstract Understanding ultrafast processes in their natural timescale is crucial for controlling and manipulating nanoscale optoelectronic devices under light–matter interaction. Here, we demonstrate that ultrafast plasmon resonances, attributed to the phenomenon of extraordinary optical transmission (EOT), can be significantly modified by tuning the spectral and temporal properties of the ultrashort light pulse. In this scheme, all-optical active tuning governs the spatial and temporal enhancement of plasmon oscillations in the EOT system without device customization. We analyze the spectral and temporal evolution of the system using two approaches. First, we develop a theoretical framework based on the coupled harmonic oscillator model, which analytically describes the dynamics of plasmon modes in the coupled and uncoupled states. Later, we compare the evolution of the system under continuous-wave and pulsed illumination. Further, we discuss the time-resolved spectral and spatial dynamics of plasmon modes using a 3D finite difference time-domain simulation method and wavelet transform. Our results show that optical tuning of the oscillation time, intensity, and spectral properties of propagating and localized plasmon modes yields a three-fold enhancement in the EOT signal. The active tuning of the EOT sensor through ultrashort light pulses paves the way for the development of on-chip photonic devices employing high-resolution imaging and sensing of abundant atomic and molecular systems.