All-optical control in metal nanocomposites due to a reversible transition between local field enhancement and local field depression upon irradiation by ultrashort control-pulses of light

摘要

We theoretically study the non-perturbative effective nonlinear responses of metal nanocomposites based on the intrinsic third-order nonlinear response of metal nanoparticles. The large intrinsic third-order nonlinear susceptibility of metal nanoparticles and irradiation by an ultrashort control pulse of light with a sufficiently high peak intensity and moderate fluence can induce a local field depression and saturated plasmon bleaching in the metal nanoparticles. If the control pulse is on, the metal nanocomposites behave like a dielectric due to the local field depression, while if the control pulse is off, they behave like a metal, showing a high absorption due to the local field enhancement at the plasmon resonance. This phenomenon can be applied to the ultrafast and remote control of light in metal nanocomposites.