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In the News
 Nature
Photonics, a prestigious scientific journal, recently highlighted the works of
Dr. Mikhail Noginov and research associates @ NSU in collaboration with Dr.
Shaleev and associates @ Purdue University. The research effort was supported by
several grants including the recently awarded NSF PREM: “Photonic Metamaterials”.
The article written in Nature Photonics also references a previous publication
by Dr. Noginov, Dr. Shaleev and associates in Optics Letters, published by the
Optical Society of America (OSA).
Below are abstracts from each publication.
 Abstract:
“Optical gain in a dielectric compensates for absorption losses in metallic
nanoparticles.”
Surface plasmons - collective oscillations of free electrons that propagate
along a metal/dielectric interface -have become a very hot topic because of
their role in a broad range of optical phenomena. The intense fields associated
with surface plasmons can enhance the optical properties of a material and have
been observed on rough surfaces, in artificial nanostructures as well as in
clusters and aggregates of nanoparticles. Effects attributed to surface plasmons,
referred to as nanoplasmonics, include surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, the
Kerr effect and extraordinary optical transmission.
However, strong damping of plasmons caused by metal absorption has been the
major issue of most existing and potential applications of nanoplasmonics. It
has been suggested that surrounding the metal in a dielectric with a high
optical gain may compensate for these losses and enhance the nanoplasmonic
effects. Noginov and colleagues have now shown experimentally that this is
indeed possible 1.
1. Noginov, M. A. et al. Enhancement of surface plasmons in an Ag aggregate
by optical gain in a dielectric medium. Opt. Lett. 31, 3022–3024 (2006).
Published online 25 September 2006. Read Article
 Abstract
“Highlights of "Enhancement of surface plasmons in an Ag aggregate by optical
gain in a dielectric medium.”
We have observed the compensation of loss in a metal by a gain in a dielectric
medium in the mixture of an Ag aggregate and a Rhodamine 6G dye. The
demonstrated sixfold enhancement of the Rayleigh scattering is the evidence of
the enhancement of the surface-plasmon resonance. The reported experimental
observation facilitates many applications of nanoplasmonics. Read
Article
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