Excitation of Magnetic Dipole Transitions at Optical Frequencies

Mark Kasperczyk, Steven Person, Duarte Ananias, Luis D. Carlos, and Lukas Novotny
Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 163903 – Published 23 April 2015
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Abstract

We use the magnetic field distribution of an azimuthally polarized focused laser beam to excite a magnetic dipole transition in Eu3+ ions embedded in a Y2O3 nanoparticle. The absence of the electric field at the focus of an azimuthally polarized beam allows us to unambiguously demonstrate that the nanoparticle is excited by the magnetic dipole transition near 527.5 nm. When the laser wavelength is resonant with the magnetic dipole transition, the nanoparticle maps the local magnetic field distribution, whereas when the laser wavelength is resonant with an electric dipole transition, the nanoparticle is sensitive to the local electric field. Hence, by tuning the excitation wavelength, we can selectively excite magnetic or electric dipole transitions through optical fields.

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  • Received 20 November 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.163903

© 2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Mark Kasperczyk1, Steven Person2, Duarte Ananias3, Luis D. Carlos4, and Lukas Novotny1,*

  • 1Photonics Laboratory, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
  • 2Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
  • 3Department of Chemistry, CICECO, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
  • 4Department of Physics, CICECO, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

  • *www.photonics.ethz.ch

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Vol. 114, Iss. 16 — 24 April 2015

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