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Control of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale has advanced fields such as quantum optics, photovoltaics and telecommunications. These advances are driven by an improved understanding of the nanoscale behaviour of light, enabled by direct observations of the local electric fields near photonic nanostructures. With the advent of metamaterials that respond to the magnetic component of light, schemes have been developed to measure the nanoscale magnetic field. However, these structures interact not only with the magnetic field, but also with the electric field of light. Here, we demonstrate the essential simultaneous detection of both electric and magnetic fields with subwavelength resolution. By explaining our measurements through reciprocal considerations, we create a route towards designing probes sensitive to specific desired combinations of electric and magnetic field components. Simultaneous access to nanoscale electric and magnetic fields will pave the way for new designs of optical nanostructures and metamaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Simultaneous Measurement of Nanoscale Electric and Magnetic Optical Fields," that was published in the December 15, 2013 issue is presented.

We use polarization-resolved near-field measurements, in conjunction with electromagnetic theory, to separate and quantify the electric and magnetic optical response of subwavelength holes in thick gold films. Using 1550 nm light, we determine the amplitudes of the electric and magnetic polarizabilities of holes with diameters ranging from 600 to 1000 nm. Additionally, we study the scattered field distributions that arise from the interactions of the holes with surface plasmon polaritons, and show that forward-backward scattering ratios as high as 2.5 : 1 are possible. Our study provides experimental access and theoretical understanding of the full electromagnetic polarizability that describes the optical response of metallic holes at telecom wavelengths, which is a prototypical structure in currently explored optical signal processing and sensing devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical beams with helical phase fronts carry orbital angular momentum (OAM). To exploit this property in integrated photonics, micrometer-scale devices that generate beams with well-defined OAM are needed. Consequently, lasers based on microring resonators decorated with azimuthal grating elements have been investigated. However, future development of such devices requires better methods to determine their OAM, as current approaches are challenging to implement and interpret. If a simple and more sensitive technique were available, OAM microring lasers could be better understood and further improved. In particular, despite most devices being pulsed, their OAM output has been assumed to be constant. OAM fluctuations, which are detrimental for applications, need to be quantified. Here, we fabricate quantum-dot microring lasers and demonstrate a simple measurement method that can straightforwardly determine the magnitude and sign of the OAM down to the level of individual laser pulses. We exploit a Fourier microscope with a cylindrical lens and then investigate three types of microring lasers: with circular symmetry, with "blazed" grating elements, and with unidirectional rotational modes. Our results confirm that previous measurement techniques obscured key details about the OAM generation. For example, while time-averaged OAM from our unidirectional laser is very similar to our blazed grating device, single-pulse measurements show that detrimental effects of mode competition are almost entirely suppressed in the former. Nevertheless, even in this case, the OAM output exhibits shot-to-shot fluctuations. Thus, our approach reveals important details in the underlying device operation that can aid in the improvement of micrometer-scale sources with pure OAM output.

Gratings 1 and holograms 2 use patterned surfaces to tailor optical signals by diffraction. Despite their long history, variants with remarkable functionalities continue to be developed 3,4 . Further advances could exploit Fourier optics 5 , which specifies the surface pattern that generates a desired diffracted output through its Fourier transform. To shape the optical wavefront, the ideal surface profile should contain a precise sum of sinusoidal waves, each with a well defined amplitude, spatial frequency and phase. However, because fabrication techniques typically yield profiles with at most a few depth levels, complex 'wavy' surfaces cannot be obtained, limiting the straightforward mathematical design and implementation of sophisticated diffractive optics. Here we present a simple yet powerful approach to eliminate this design-fabrication mismatch by demonstrating optical surfaces that contain an arbitrary number of specified sinusoids. We combine thermal scanning-probe lithography 6-8 and templating 9 to create periodic and aperiodic surface patterns with continuous depth control and sub-wavelength spatial resolution. Multicomponent linear gratings allow precise manipulation of electromagnetic signals through Fourier-spectrum engineering 10 . Consequently, we overcome a previous limitation in photonics by creating an ultrathin grating that simultaneously couples red, green and blue light at the same angle of incidence. More broadly, we analytically design and accurately replicate intricate two-dimensional moiré patterns 11,12 , quasicrystals 13,14 and holograms 15,16 , demonstrating a variety of previously unattainable diffractive surfaces. This approach may find application in optical devices (biosensors 17 , lasers 18,19 , metasurfaces 4 and modulators 20 ) and emerging areas in photonics (topological structures 21 , transformation optics 22 and valleytronics 23 ).

Exciton polaritons are hybrid light-matter quasiparticles that can serve as coherent light sources. Motivated by applications, room-temperature realization of polaritons requires narrow, excitonic transitions with large transition dipoles. Such transitions must then be strongly coupled to an electromagnetic mode confined in a small volume. While much work has explored polaritons in organic materials, semiconductor nanocrystals present an alternative excitonic system with enhanced photostability and spectral tunability. In particular, quasi-two-dimensional nanocrystals known as nanoplatelets (NPLs) exhibit intense, spectrally narrow excitonic transitions useful for polariton formation. Here, we place CdSe NPLs on silver hole arrays to demonstrate exciton-plasmon polaritons at room temperature. Angle-resolved reflection spectra reveal Rabi splittings up to 149 meV for the polariton states. We observe bright, polarized emission arising from the lowest polariton state. Furthermore, we assess the dependence of the Rabi splitting on the hole-array pitch and the number N of NPLs. While the pitch determines the in-plane momentum for which strong coupling is observed, it does not affect the size of the splitting. The Rabi splitting first increases with NPL film thickness before eventually saturating. Instead of the commonly used [Formula: see text] dependence, we develop an analytical expression that includes the transverse confinement of the plasmon modes to describe the measured Rabi splitting as a function of NPL film thickness.

Fifty years ago, Drexhage et al. showed how photon emission from an electric dipole can be modified by a nearby mirror. Here, we study the two-dimensional analog for surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). We print Eu^{3+}-doped nanoparticles, which act as both electric- and magnetic-dipole sources of SPPs, near plasmonic reflectors on flat Ag films. We measure modified SPP radiation patterns and emission rates as a function of reflector distance and source symmetry. The results, which agree with an analytical self-interference model, provide simple strategies to control SPP radiation in plasmonic devices.

To improve the photophysical performance of colloidal quantum dots for laser applications, sophisticated core/shell geometries have been developed. Typically, a wider bandgap semiconductor is added as a shell to enhance the gain from the quantum-dot core. This shell is designed to electronically isolate the core, funnel excitons to it, and reduce nonradiative Auger recombination. However, the shell could also potentially provide a secondary source of gain, leading to further versatility in these materials. Here we develop high-quality quantum-dot ring lasers that not only exhibit lasing from both the core and the shell but also the ability to switch between them. We fabricate ring resonators (with quality factors up to ∼2500) consisting only of CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell quantum dots using a simple template-stripping process. We then examine lasing as a function of the optical excitation power and ring radius. In resonators with quality factors >1000, excitons in the CdSe cores lead to red lasing with thresholds at ∼25 μJ/cm 2 . With increasing power, green lasing from the CdS shell emerges (>100 μJ/cm 2 ) and then the red lasing begins to disappear (>250 μJ/cm 2 ). We present a rate-equation model that can explain this color switching as a competition between exciton localization into the core and stimulated emission from excitons in the shell. Moreover, by lowering the quality factor of the cavity we can engineer the device to exhibit only green lasing. The mechanism demonstrated here provides a potential route toward color-switchable quantum-dot lasers.

Combining the ability to localize electromagnetic fields at the nanoscale with a directional response, plasmonic antennas offer an effective strategy to shape the far-field pattern of coupled emitters. Here, we introduce a family of directional multiresonant antennas that allows for polarization-resolved spectral identification of fluorescent emission. The geometry consists of a central aperture surrounded by concentric polygonal corrugations. By varying the periodicity of each axis of the polygon individually, this structure can support multiple resonances that provide independent control over emission directionality for multiple wavelengths. Moreover, since each resonant wavelength is directly mapped to a specific polarization orientation, spectral information can be encoded in the polarization state of the out-scattered beam. To demonstrate the potential of such structures in enabling simplified detection schemes and additional functionalities in sensing and imaging applications, we use the central subwavelength aperture as a built-in nanocuvette and manipulate the fluorescent response of colloidal-quantum-dot emitters coupled to the multiresonant antenna.

We use symmetry considerations to understand and unravel near-field measurements, ultimately showing that we can spatially map three distinct fields using only two detectors. As an example, we create 2D field maps of the out-of-plane magnetic field and two in-plane fields for a silicon ridge waveguide. Furthermore, we are able to identify and remove polarization mixing of less than 1/30 of our experimental signals. Since symmetries are prevalent in nanophotonic structures and their near-fields, our method can have an impact on many future near-field measurements.