Optical singularities and nonlinear effects near plasmonic nanostructures

One promising way to manipulate light on the nanoscale is to exploit the properties of light when it interacts with metallic elements. Light can, for instance, be guided along the interface of a metal and a dielectric. These guided waves are called surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), and they occur because the collective oscillations of free electrons of the metal interact with the light waves and vice versa. The wavelength of the SPP itself is (much) shorter than the wavelength of light, resulting in a tight confinement and strong enhancement of the field. The light fields interacting with plasmonic systems can vary more rigorously in space than normal beams; they can be much richer in structure and exhibit fascinating patterns. A variety of different plasmonic platforms have been studied or proposed in literature to create unique structured field patterns.QN/van der Zant La