Interferometric Plasmonic Lensing with Nanohole Arrays

Nonlinear photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) of nanohole arrays in gold films is used to map propagating surface plasmons (PSPs) launched from lithographically patterned structures. Strong near-field photoemission patterns are observed in the PEEM images, recorded following low angle of incidence irradiation of nanohole arrays with sub-15 fs laser pulses centered at 780 nm. The recorded photoemission patterns are attributed to constructive and destructive interference between PSPs launched from the individual nanoholes which comprise the array. By exploiting the wave nature of PSPs, we demonstrate how varying the array geometry (hole diameter, pitch, and number of rows/columns) ultimately yields intense localized photoemission. Through a combination of PEEM experiments and finite-difference time-domain simulations, we identify the optimal array geometry for efficient light coupling and interferometric plasmonic lensing. We show a preliminary application of inteferometric plasmonic lensing by enhancing the photoemission from the vertex of a gold triangle using a nanohole array