Our group was established in September, 2006, by members of Laboratory of Nonlinear Optics of Nanostructures and Photonic Crystals (Dr. A.A. Fedyanin and Dr. T.V. Dolgova) and of Laboratory of Scanning Probe Microscopy (Dr. A.A. Ejov) for development of new directions at the Department of Quantum Electronics, Faculty of Physics. Main activities of the group relate to the nanophotonics and nano-optics of different types of nanostructures including metamaterials. Six main research directions can be specified:

• Magnetoplasmonics in nanostructures and metamaterials. This direction is targeted on fabrication of ordered two-dimensional magnetic nanostructures possessing enhancement of magneto-optical response in the desired spectral region due to the resonance of local and propagating surface plasmons. The objects of the study are ordered magnetophotonic nanostructures with quadratic and hexagonal lattice of nanoholes with parameters, optimized for observation of resonances in optical near-field and effect of extraordinary optical transmission, and composite two-dimensional magnetic nanogranular films.
• Nanoplasmonics in nanostructures and metamaterials. The main goal of the direction is formulated as experimental observation and comprehensive study of excitation, enhancement, and ultrafast dynamics of plasmon polaritons in artificial nanostructures and metamaterials, including chiral ones.
• Photonic force microscopy: optical tweezers. Optical tweezers give and opportunity to trap micro-objects in a potential well formed by highly focused laser beam. This technique allows the manipulation of microscopic objects in applications ranging from particle sorting to tools which exert calibrated forces on systems of interest as well as accurately measure the forces and displacements generated by these systems. Moreover optical tweezers have developed into a powerful tool in molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics. We suggest double trap optical tweezers for the direct measurements of aggregation forces in piconewton range between red blood cells (RBCs) in pair rouleau under physiological conditions. We are also involved into the RBCs elastic properties research offering a novel method for precise monitoring of red blood cells viscoelastic properties using active rheology approach combined with the forced RBC edges vibration analysis. We are also developing a new instrument for measuring of the interaction force between individual magnetic microparticles suspended in liquid medium. These magnetic forces are small (in order of hundreds of fN) therefore the ability to monitor them is of considerable interest since the research of the properties and applications of magnetic fluids consisting of well dispersed magnetic particles is rapidly growing.
• Near-field optical studies of plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials. Research tasks within this direction include scanning near-field optical microscopy, spectroscopy and polarimetry of chiral and magnetic metamaterials, experimental studies of local distribution of intensity and polarization state of light localized in the vicinity of chiral-shaped nanoholes and their spectral dependence, investigation of the subwavelength localization and local enhancement of the optical electromagnetic field including the differences caused by the different polarization.
• Magnetophotonics in nanostructures and photonic crystals. Within this direction the magneto-optical effects and their relations to nanomagnetism has to be studied. Utilizing photonic band gap effects and multiple reflection interference for enhancement of Faraday and Kerr rotation due to the light nonreciprocity in magnetic media.
• Ultrafast dynamics of optical response of nanostructures and metamaterials. Studies of ultrafast dynamics of plasmon excitation in photonic nanostructures ad metamaterials using femtosecond time-resolved optical spectroscopy. The use of the femtosecond pulse splitted at the pump and probe pulses with controllable delay between them allows studying dynamics of plasmonic excitation and propagation with at the time scale from 100 fs to 1 ns. Development of time-resolved near-field scanning optical microscopy technique for studying dynamics of the plasmonic excitation and plasmonic interactions in metamaterials with high spatial and temporal resolution

Facilities available in the group:

• scanning near-field optical microscope;
• atomic-force microscope;
• setup for laser spectroscopy using nanosecond tunable laser system;
• femtosecond laser system;
• double trap optical tweezers including magnetic setup modification
• setup for magneto-optical spectroscopy.