Ultrafast and Nanoscale Photonics: From Metamaterial-Based All-Optical Switching to Plasmon-Driven Polaritonic Chemistry

Ultrafast control of light-matter interactions is fundamental to mark new technological frontiers, for instance in light-driven information processing and nanoscale photochemistry [1]. In this context, we have explored the possibility to use metal-dielectric nanocavities to achieve all-optical modulation of light states, such as reflectance, transmittance and polarization. Without the need of driving higher order effects, our system is based on linear absorption, provides large relative modulation exceeding 100% and switching bandwidths of few hundred GHz at moderate excitation fluence [2]. This archetypical system becomes even more interesting if the dielectric inclusion is not just a “passive” insulator material but an inorganic van der Waals bonded semiconductor, like a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD). TMDs are subject of intense research due to their electronic and optical properties which are promising for next-generation opto-electronic devices. In this context, understanding ultrafast carrier dynamics, as well as charge and energy transfer at the interface between metals and semiconductors, is crucial and yet quite unexplored. By employing a pump-push-probe scheme, we experimentally study how optically-induced thermionic charge carrier injection affects the exciton formation dynamics in bulk WS2 [3], disclosing excellent opportunities to control exciton formation and annihilation. The strong electric field associated with thermionic carriers excitation can have also important implications in polaritonic chemistry. In fact, if an electronic transition (e.g., exciton, singlet, etc.) strongly interacts with the optical modes of a resonator, we can tailor the energetics and the morphology of a molecular state. By combining quantum mechanical modelling and pump-probe spectroscopy, we recently shed new light on the ultrafast dynamics of a hybrid system composed of photo-switchable molecules coupled to optically anisotropic plasmonic nanoantennas, which allow us to selectively switch between two regimes where the light-matter interaction is either weak or strong [4]. Our synergistic approach is thus instrumental to devise new strategies for tailoring electronic states by using plasmons for applications in polaritonic chemistry on femtosecond timescales.<br/><br/><br/><b>References</b><br/>A. N. Koya et al., Appl. Phys. Rev. (2023)<br/>J. Kuttruff et al., Commun. Phys. 3, 114 (2020)<br/>K. R. Keller et al., ACS Photonics 9, 2683 (2022)<br/>J. Kuttruff et al., Nat. Commun. (2023)