Improving Devices with Plasmonics

New research in plasmonics could yield useful applications in terahertz-regime spectroscopy and communications.

HANK HOGAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Researchers are putting electron oscillations, or plasmons, to work and paving the way for instruments that could improve food safety and devices for future mobile communications. Additionally, plasmonic-enabled nanolasers could provide a means to link chips or subsections of chips, which would enable computers to become faster, smaller, and more efficient. However, scientists and engineers must first overcome challenges related to nanomanufacturing, high optical intensities, and optical intensities, and optical losses.

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Published: December 2019

Glossary

plasmonics: Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free electrons in a metal or semiconductor at the nanoscale. Specifically, plasmonics deals with the collective oscillations of these free electrons, known as surface plasmons, which can confine and manipulate light on the nanometer scale. Surface plasmons are formed when incident photons couple with the conduction electrons at the interface between a metal or semiconductor...
terahertz: Terahertz (THz) refers to a unit of frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum, denoting waves with frequencies between 0.1 and 10 terahertz. One terahertz is equivalent to one trillion hertz, or cycles per second. The terahertz frequency range falls between the microwave and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Key points about terahertz include: Frequency range: The terahertz range spans from approximately 0.1 terahertz (100 gigahertz) to 10 terahertz. This corresponds to...