Objective
The project aims to establish the basis for a new type of photomaps; one based on metallic materials rather than dielectric and semi conducting materials that dominate present day photomaps technology. Metallic photon materials demonstrate unique properties due to the existence on metals of electromagnetic surface waves known as surface plasmas (Saps). Saps are set to become part of the photomaps revolution in which the interaction between light and matter is controlled by producing patterned structures that are periodic on the scale of the wavelength of light. Saps open up a wealth of new possibilities for photomaps because they allow the concentration and propagation of light below the usual resolution limit. The field is now at a critical stage; impressive pioneering results have been reported but doubts persist about the practical utility of using Saps. The damping of Saps by absorption in the metal is usually considered to be serious enough to prevent exploitation. This project will expand on recent work indicating that such problems can be overcome byname-structuring the metals involved, thus opening the way for exciting new photon elements and devices. The project partners will provide long-term interdisciplinary research into the phenomena that underlie surface plasmonphotonics. Nan structure will be used to control the coupling between Saps and light and to control the propagation of light. Proof-in-principle demonstration experiments relevant to optical and photon devices that employ Saps will also be undertaken. A particular feature of the project is the strong collaboration between theoretical and experimental researchers. Through such collaboration this project will develop new knowledge and provide an ability to design metallicnano-structures for specific photon purposes. By providing a critical assessment of the viability of Saps for photomaps the project will enable the potential for a new technology to be assessed.
Fields of science
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
Keywords
Call for proposal
FP6-2002-NMP-1
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Funding Scheme
STREP - Specific Targeted Research ProjectCoordinator
EXETER
United Kingdom