UC Santa Barbara

Multipolar electromagnetic phenomena in sub-wavelength resonators are at the heart of metamaterial science and technology. Typically, researchers engineer multipolar light-matter interactions by modifying the size, shape, and composition of the resonators. Here, we instead engineer multipolar interactions by modifying properties of the incident radiation. In this dissertation, we propose a new framework for determining the scattering response of resonators based on properties of the local excitation field.

First, we derive an analytical theory to determine the scattering response of spherical nanoparticles under any type of illumination. Using this theory, we demonstrate the ability to drastically manipulate the scattering properties of a spherical nanoparticle by varying the illumination and demonstrate excitation of a longitudinal quadrupole mode that cannot be accessed with conventional illumination. Next, we investigate the response of dielectric dimer structures illuminated by cylindrical vector beams. Using finite-difference time-domain simulations, we demonstrate significant modification of the scattering spectra of dimer antennas and reveal how the illumination condition gives rise to these spectra through manipulation of electric and magnetic mode hybridization. Finally, we present a simple and efficient numerical simulation based on local field principles for extracting the multipolar response of any resonator under illumination by structured light. This dissertation enhances the understanding of fundamental light-matter interactions in metamaterials and lays the foundation for researchers to identify, quantify, and manipulate multipolar light-matter interactions through optical beam engineering.