Plasmonic nanostructures for shrinking structured light to access forbidden transitions

Plasmonic nanostructures have considerable applicability in light–matter interactions owing to their capacity for strong field confinement and enhancement. Nanogap structures allow us to tailor electric field distributions at the nanoscale, bridging the differences in size and shape of atomic and light structures. In this study, we demonstrated that a plasmonic tetramer structure can squeeze structured light into a nanoscale area, in which a strong field gradient allows access to forbidden transitions. Numerical simulations showed that the gold tetramer structure on a glass substrate possesses a plasmonic eigenmode, which forms structured light with a quadrupole profile in the nanogap region at the center of the tetramer. The top–down technique employed using electron-beam lithography allows us to produce a gap size of approximately 50 nm, which supports plasmonic resonance in the near-infrared regime. In addition, we demonstrated an array architecture in which a collective lattice resonance enhances the intensity of the quadrupole field in multiple lattice units. This study highlights the possibility of accessing multipolar transitions in a combined system of structured light and plasmonic nanostructures. Our findings may lead to new platforms for spectroscopy, sensing, and light sources that take advantage of the full electronic spectrum of an emitter.

Photodissociation of dicarbon: How nature breaks an unusual multiple bond

The dicarbon molecule (C2) is found in flames, comets, stars, and the diffuse interstellar medium. In comets, it is responsible for the green color of the coma, but it is not found in the tail. It has long been held to photodissociate in sunlight with a lifetime precluding observation in the tail, but the mechanism was not known. Here we directly observe photodissociation of C2. From the speed of the recoiling carbon atoms, a bond dissociation energy of 602.804(29) kJ·mol−1 is determined, with an uncertainty comparable to its more experimentally accessible N2 and O2 counterparts. The value is within 0.03 kJ·mol−1 of high-level quantum theory. This work shows that, to break the quadruple bond of C2 using sunlight, the molecule must absorb two photons and undergo two “forbidden” transitions.

Emission Lines in 290–360 nm of Highly Charged Tungsten Ions W20+–W29+

Forbidden transitions in the near-UV and visible wavelength of highly charged tungsten (W) ions are potentially useful as novel tungsten diagnostics means of fusion plasmas. Emission lines in 290–360 nm from Wq+ ions interacting with an electron beam of 540–1370 eV are measured, using a compact electron-beam-ion-trap. The charge states of 64 lines are identified as W20+–W29+. A magnetic-dipole (M1) line of W29+ between the excited states (4d84f)[(4d5/2−2)44f7/2]13/2→[(4d5/2−2)44f5/2]13/2 is newly identified; the wavelength is determined as 351.03(10) nm in air. The theoretical wavelength calculated using the multiconfiguration Dirac–Hartree–Fock method is in a good agreement with the measurement.

Structural and Optical Properties of (PVA/PVP:Sr2NO3) Nanocomposites

In this study preparing and investigating of the (PVA/PVP:Sr2NO3) nanocomposites films by using casting method with different concentration of Sr2NO3 as (0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt. %). Optical properties obtained by UV-Vis spectrometer, OM and FTIR spectra have been revealed in this study, the absorbance increased by increasing of Sr2NO3 nanoparticles concentrations, the energy-gap (allowed and forbidden) transitions decreased by increasing of the nanoparticles concentration.