Nonlinear optics in subwavelength plasmonic nanostructures

In the last decade, the advances in integrated optics and photonic nano-devices have been greatly accelerated by the availability of high performance computing platforms and powerful numerical methods for device simulation and computer-aided design. Thus, high fabrication costs of complex photonic nano-devices make it imperative to have access to high-performance computational tools, which can greatly accelerate the device design process and reduce the design-fabrication-testing cycle. In this connection, in this talk we briefly review and compare several numerical methods that are commonly used to model the nonlinear optical properties of plasmonic nano-structures and, subsequently, by using specific examples, we illustrate how these methods can be employed to design and characterize active plasmonic nano-structures with unique optical properties. Examples of such nonlinear effects in plasmonic nanostructures include nonlinear excitation of plasmon modes in plasmonic cavities, formation of subwavelength plasmonic solitons and plasmonic vortices in plasmonic arrays, and nonlinear wave scattering by defects of metallic surfaces.