Plasmonic computing of spatial differentiation

Tengfeng Zhu, Yihan Zhou, Yijie Lou, Hui Ye, Min Qiu, Zhichao Ruan () and Shanhui Fan ()
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Tengfeng Zhu: State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University
Yihan Zhou: State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University
Yijie Lou: State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University
Hui Ye: State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Engineering, Zhejiang University
Min Qiu: State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Engineering, Zhejiang University
Zhichao Ruan: State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University
Shanhui Fan: Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Optical analog computing offers high-throughput low-power-consumption operation for specialized computational tasks. Traditionally, optical analog computing in the spatial domain uses a bulky system of lenses and filters. Recent developments in metamaterials enable the miniaturization of such computing elements down to a subwavelength scale. However, the required metamaterial consists of a complex array of meta-atoms, and direct demonstration of image processing is challenging. Here, we show that the interference effects associated with surface plasmon excitations at a single metal–dielectric interface can perform spatial differentiation. And we experimentally demonstrate edge detection of an image without any Fourier lens. This work points to a simple yet powerful mechanism for optical analog computing at the nanoscale.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15391

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