We provide a general theoretical platform based on quantized radiation in absorptive and inhomogeneous media for investigating the coherent interaction of light with metallic structures in the immediate vicinity of quantum emitters. In the case of a very small metallic cluster, we demonstrate extreme regimes where a single emitter can either counteract or enhance particle absorption by three orders of magnitude. For larger structures, we show that an emitter can eliminate both scattering and absorption and cloak a plasmonic antenna. We provide physical interpretations of our results and discuss their applications in active metamaterials and quantum plasmonics.
Light emitters are bound to strongly interact with light through enhanced absorption and scattering, which imposes limitations on the design and performance of photonic devices such as solar cells, nanoantennas, and (nano) lasers. Overcoming these limitations forces the use of ineffective nonreciprocity approaches or separation of radiation and scattering in the frequency or time domain. A design that combines the properties of an efficient emitter in one state and the property of being invisible in another state is vital for various applications. In this work, we propose a nanolaser design ba…
We show that dielectric spheres can be cloaked by a shell of amorphously arranged metallic nanoparticles. The shell represents an artificial medium with tunable effective properties that can be adjusted such that the scattered signals of shell and sphere almost cancel each other. We provide an analytical model for the cloak design and prove numerically that the cloak operates as desired. We show that more than 70% of the scattered signal of the sphere can be suppressed at the design wavelength. Advantages and disadvantages of such a cloak when compared to other implementations are disclosed.
Cloaking using a volumetric structure composed of stacked two-dimensional transmission-line networks is verified with measurements. The measurements are done in a waveguide, in which an array of metallic cylinders is inserted causing a short-circuit in the waveguide. The metal cylinders are cloaked using a previously designed and simulated cloak that hides the cylinders and thus enables wave propagation inside the waveguide.
The cloaking performance of two microwave cloaks, both based on the recently proposed transmission-line approach, are studied using commercial full-wave simulation software. The cloaks are shown to be able to reduce the total scattering cross sections of metallic objects of some restricted shapes and sizes. One of the studied cloaks is electrically small in diameter, and the other is electrically large, with the diameter equal to several wavelengths.
Here we present the results of full experimental characterization of broadband cloaking of a finite-sized metallic cylinder at X-band. The cloaking effect is characterized by measuring the bistatic scattering patterns of uncloaked and cloaked objects in free space and then comparing these with each other. The results of the measurements demonstrate a broadband cloaking effect and are in good agreement with numerical predictions.
We present measurements of a transmission-line network, designed for cloaking applications in the microwave region. The network is used for channelling microwave energy through an electrically dense array of metal objects, which is basically impenetrable to the impinging electromagnetic radiation. With the designed transmission-line network the waves emitted by a source placed in an air-filled waveguide, are coupled into the network and guided through the array of metallic objects. Our goal is to illustrate the simple manufacturing, assembly, and the general feasibility of these types of cloak…
We numerically demonstrate selective near-field localization determined by the polarization state of a single emitter coupled to plasmonic nano-cluster. Seven gold nanospheres are carefully arranged such that up to ten polarization states of the single emitter, including linear, circular, and elliptical polarizations, can be distinguished via the distinct field localization in four gaps. The ability to transform polarization state into field spatial localization may find application for single emitter polarization analysis.
In this manuscript, we demonstrate the design and experimental proof of an optical cloaking structure which multi-directionally conceals a perfectly electric conductor (PEC) object from an incident plane wave. The dielectric modulation around the highly reflective scattering PEC object is determined by an optimization process for multi-directional cloaking purposes. And to obtain the multi-directional effect of the cloaking structure, an optimized slice is mirror symmetrized through a radial perimeter. Three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain method is integrated with genetic optim…
In this study, the design of a directional cloaking based on the Luneburg lens system is proposed and its operating principle is experimentally verified. The cloaking concept is analytically investigated via geometrical optics and numerically realized with the help of the finite-difference time-domain method. In order to benefit from its unique focusing and/or collimating characteristics of light, the Luneburg lens is used. We show that by the proper combination of Luneburg lenses in an array form, incident light bypasses the region between junctions of the lenses, i.e., the "dark zone." Hence…
The spontaneous decay of an excited state of an emitter placed in the vicinity of a metallic single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) was examined theoretically. The emitter-SWNT coupling strongly depends on the position of the emitter relative to the SWNT, the length of the SWNT, the dipole transition frequency and the orientation of the emitter. In the high-frequency regime, dips in the spectrum of the spontaneous decay rate exist at the resonance frequencies in the spectrum of the SWNT conductivity. In the intermediate-frequency regime, the SWNT conductivity is very low, and the spontaneous decay…
Radiative thermal engineering with subwavelength metallic bodies is a key element for heat and energy management applications, communication and sensing. Here, we numerically and experimentally demonstrate metallic thermal emitters with narrowband but extremely stable emission spectra, whose resonant frequency does not shift with changes on the nanofilm thickness, the angle of observation and/or polarization. Our devices are based on epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) substrates acting as material-based high-impedance substrates. They do not require from complex nanofabrication processes, thus being comp…
We report on the increased extraction of light emitted by solid-state sources embedded within high refractive index materials. This is achieved by making use of a local lensing effect by sub-micron metallic rings deposited on the sample surface and centered around single emitters. We show enhancements in the intensity of the light emitted by InAs/GaAs single quantum dot lines into free space as high as a factor 20. Such a device is intrinsically broadband and therefore compatible with any kind of solid-state light source. We foresee the fabrication of metallic rings via scalable techniques, li…
Exciton-surface plasmon coupling is at the heart of the most elementary light-matter interactions and is a result of not only an intrinsic property of the emitter but that of emitter-environment interaction. Thus, change of electromagnetic environment, as in case of metallic nanoplasmonic structures and an emitter, significantly modifies the near field light-matter interaction, which leads to energy transfer in the form of exciton between metallic nanostructure and the emitter. However, this mechanism remains largely unexplored. Here, we developed and applied semi-classical electrodynamics the…
To explore the capabilities of metallic spintronic thin-film stacks as a source of intense and broadband terahertz electromagnetic fields, we excite a W/CoFeB/Pt trilayer on a large-area glass substrate (diameter of 7.5 cm) by a femtosecond laser pulse (energy 5.5 mJ, duration 40 fs, wavelength 800 nm). After focusing, the emitted terahertz pulse is measured to have a duration of 230 fs, a peak field of 300 kV cm$^{-1}$ and an energy of 5 nJ. In particular, the waveform exhibits a gapless spectrum extending from 1 to 10 THz at 10% of amplitude maximum, thereby facilitating nonlinear control ov…
We address the issue of the second-order coherence of single surface plasmons launched by a quantum source of light into extended gold films. The quantum source of light is made of a scanning fluorescent nanodiamond hosting five nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers. By using a specially designed microscopy that combines near-field optics with far-field leakage-radiation microscopy in the Fourier space and adapted spatial filtering, we find that the quantum statistics of the initial source of light is preserved after conversion to surface plasmons and propagation along the polycrystalline gold f…
Planar metal-semiconductor Yagi-Uda type antennas for tunable narrow-linewidth quantum dot emitters
Johannes Kepler University Linz（林茨约翰内斯·开普勒大学）；Indian Institute of Technology Delhi（德里印度理工学院）；Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Universidade（格列布·瓦塔金物理研究所，大学）
The control of the interaction between several quantum emitters using nanophotonic structures holds great promise for quantum technology applications. However, the theoretical description of such processes for complex nanostructures is a highly demanding task as the electromagnetic (EM) modes are in principle described by a high-dimensional continuum. We here introduce an approach that permits a quantized description of the full EM field through a "minimal" number of discrete modes. This extends the previous work in [Medina et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 093601 (2021)] to the case of an arbitra…
We demonstrate an approach, based on plasmonic apertures and gratings, to enhance the radiative decay rate of single NV centers in diamond, while simultaneously improving their collection efficiency. Our structures are based on metallic resonators formed by surrounding sub-wavelength diamond nanoposts with a silver film, which can enhance the spontaneous emission rate of an embedded NV center. However, the collection efficiency of emitted photons remains low due to losses to surface plasmons and reflections at the diamond-air interface. In this work, we mitigate photon losses into these channe…
The spontaneous emission rate of dipole emitters close to plasmonic dimers are theoretically studied within a nonlocal hydrodynamic model. A nonlocal model has to be used since quantum emitters in the immediate environment of a metallic nanoparticle probe its electronic structure. Compared to local calculations, the emission rate is significantly reduced. The influence is mostly pronounced if the emitter is located close to sharp edges. We suggest to use quantum emitters to test nonlocal effects in experimentally feasible configurations.
We show that a perfect absorber/thermal emitter exhibiting an absorption peak of 99.9% can be achieved in metallic nanostructures that can be easily fabricated. The very high absorption is maintained for large angles with a minimal shift in the center frequency and can be tuned throughout the visible and near-infrared regime by scaling the nanostructure dimensions. The stability of the spectral features at high temperatures is tested by simulations using a range of material parameters.
Single-emitter microscopy has emerged as a promising method of imaging nanostructures with nanoscale resolution. This technique uses the centroid position of an emitters far-field radiation pattern to infer its position to a precision that is far below the diffraction limit. However, nanostructures composed of high-dielectric materials such as noble metals can distort the far-field radiation pattern. Nanoparticles also exhibit a more complex range of distortions, because in addition to introducing a high dielectric surface, they also act as efficient scatterers. Thus, the distortion effects of…
To implement quantum light sources based on quantum emitters in applications, it is desirable to improve the extraction efficiency of single photons. In particular controlling the directionality and solid angle of the emission are key parameters, for instance, to couple single photons into optical fibers and send the information encoded in quantum light over long distances, for quantum communication applications. In addition, fundamental studies of the radiative behavior of quantum emitters, including studies of coherence and blinking, benefit from such improved photon collection. Quantum dots…
We describe how the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique can be used to compute the quasinormal mode (QNM) for metallic nano-resonators, which is important for describing and understanding light-matter interactions in nanoplasmonics. We use the QNM to model the enhanced spontaneous emission rate for dipole emitters near a gold nanorod dimer structure using a newly developed QNM expansion technique. Significant enhanced photon emission factors of around 1500 are obtained with large output $β$-factors of about $60\%$.
Localized-surface plasmon resonance is of importance in both fundamental and applied physics for the subwavelength confinement of optical field, but realization of quantum coherent processes is confronted with challenges due to strong dissipation. Here we propose to engineer the electromagnetic environment of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) using optical microcavities. An analytical quantum model is built to describe the MNP-microcavity interaction, revealing the significantly enhanced dipolar radiation and consequentially reduced Ohmic dissipation of the plasmonic modes. As a result, when inter…
By modifying the density of optical states at the location of an emitter, weak cavity-emitter coupling can enable a host of potential applications in quantum optics, from the development of low- threshold lasers to brighter single-photon sources for quantum cryptography. Although some of the first demonstrations of spontaneous emission modification occurred in metallic structures, it was only after the recent demonstration of cavity quantum electrodynamics effects in dielectric optical cavities that metal-based optical cavities were considered for quantum optics applications. Advantages of met…
Realizing strong coupling between a single quantum emitter (QE) and an optical cavity is of crucial importance in the context of various quantum optical applications. While Rabi splitting of single quantum emitters coupled to high-Q diffraction limited cavities have been reported in numerous configurations, attaining single emitter Rabi splitting with a plasmonic nanostructure is still elusive. Here, we establish the analytical condition for strong coupling between a single QE and a plasmonic nanocavity and apply it to study various plasmonic arrangements that were shown to enable Rabi splitti…
Metallic optical systems can confine light to deep sub-wavelength dimensions, but verifying the level of confinement at these length scales typically requires specialized techniques and equipment for probing the near-field of the structure. We experimentally measured the confinement of a metal-based optical cavity by using the cavity modes themselves as a sensitive probe of the cavity characteristics. By perturbing the cavity modes with conformal dielectric layers of sub-nm thickness using atomic layer deposition, we find the exponential decay length of the modes to be less than 5% of the free…
Cavity quantum electrodynamics studies light-matter interactions at single quanta level. Chiral photon-emitter coupling in photonic structures is characterized as unidirectional propagation locked by the local polarization of light. However, to realize the strong interaction of photon-emitter with direction-locked propagation, which will bring novel applications in nonreciprocal quantum devices, has not been reported yet. Here, we propose the coupled photonic crystal and metallic nanoparticle structure, where through strong local field with high helicity, the rate of circularly polarized photo…
We investigate the impact of the dipole-active modes formed via the mode-mixing of the dipole mode with higher-order surface plasmon modes of a nanoegg on the radiative decay rate and quantum yield of an excited molecule near the nanoegg. The Purcell factor, rate of power dissipation by the emitter, antenna efficiency of the nanoegg, as well as quantum yield enhancement of the emitter, were studied using the quasistatic approximation and the semiclassical theory of radiation, following the Gersten-Nitzan and Ford-Weber approaches. Compared to the concentric nanoshell, we show that the dielectr…
We introduce a generalized Dicke-like model to describe two-level systems coupled with a single bosonic mode. In addition, the two-level systems mutually interact via direct dipole-dipole interaction. We apply the model to an ensemble of dye molecules coupled to a plasmonic excitation in a metallic nanoparticle and study how the dipole-dipole interaction and configurational randomness introduced to the system affect the energy spectra. Comparing the system eigenenergies obtained by our model with the light spectra from a multiple-scattering simulation, we suggest a way to identify dark modes i…
Recent technological advancements have allowed to implement in solid-state cavity-based devices phenomena of quantum nature such as vacuum Rabi splitting, controllable single photon emission and quantum entanglement. For a sufficiently strong coupling between a quantum emitter and a cavity, large quality factors ($Q$) along with small modal volume ($V_{eff}$) are essential. Here we show that by applying a 5nm Al coating to the sidewalls of a submicrometer-sized Fabry-Pérot microcavity, the cavity $Q$ can be temperature-tuned from few hundreds at room temperatures to 2$\times$10$^5$ below 30~K.…
Nanophotonic engineering of light-matter interaction at subwavelength scale allows thermal radiation that is fundamentally different from that of traditional thermal emitters and provides exciting opportunities for various thermal-photonic applications. We propose a new kind of integrated and electrically controlled thermal emitter that exploits layered metamaterials with lithography-free and dielectric/metallic nanolayers. We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that the proposed concept can create a strong photonic bandgap in the visible regime and allow small impedance mismatch…
Exciton harvesting is demonstrated in an ensemble of quantum emitters coupled to localized surface plasmons. When the interaction between emitters and the dipole mode of a metallic nanosphere reaches the strong coupling regime, the exciton conductance is greatly increased. The spatial map of the conductance matches the plasmon field intensity profile, which indicates that transport properties can be tuned by adequately tailoring the field of the plasmonic resonance. Under strong coupling, we find that pure dephasing can have detrimental or beneficial effects on the conductance, depending on th…
We devise new optical antennas that reduce the excited-state radiative lifetimes of emitters to the order of 100 femtoseconds while maintaining quantum efficiencies of about 80% at a broadband operation. Here, we combine metallic nanoparticles with planar dielectric structures and exploit design strategies from plasmonic nanoantennas and concepts from Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics to maximize the local density of states and minimize the nonradiative losses incurred by the metallic constituents. The proposed metallo-dielectric hybrid antennas promise important impact on various fundamental and…
Plasmonics enables deep-subwavelength concentration of light and has become important for fundamental studies as well as real-life applications. Two major existing platforms of plasmonics are metallic nanoparticles and metallic films. Metallic nanoparticles allow efficient coupling to far field radiation, yet their synthesis typically leads to poor material quality. Metallic films offer substantially higher quality materials, but their coupling to radiation is typically jeopardized due to the large momentum mismatch with free space. Here, we propose and theoretically investigate optically thin…
We present a Fourier finite element modeling of light emission of dipolar emitters coupled to infinitely long waveguides. Due to the translational symmetry, the three-dimensional (3D) coupled waveguide-emitter system can be decomposed into a series of independent 2D problems (2.5D), which reduces the computational cost. Moreover, the reduced 2D problems can be extremely accurate, compared to its 3D counterpart. Our method can precisely quantify the total emission rates, as well as the fraction of emission rates into different modal channels for waveguides with arbitrary cross-sections. We comp…
Controlling directionality of optical emitters is of utmost importance for their application in communication and biosensing devices. Metallic nanoantennas have been proven to affect both excitation and emission properties of nearby emitters, including directionality of their emission. In this regard, optical directional nanoantennas based on a Yagi-Uda design have been demonstrated in the visible range. Despite this impressive proof of concept, their overall size and considerable number of elements represent obstacles for the exploitation of these antennas in nanophotonic applications and for…
Being able to combine different materials allows taking advantage of different properties and device engineering that cannot be found or exploited within a single material system. In quantum nano-photonics, one might want to increase the device functionalities by, for instance, combining efficient classical and quantum light emission available in III-V semiconductors, low-loss light propagation accessible in silicon-based materials, fast electro-optical properties of lithium niobate and broadband reflectors and/or buried metallic contacts for local electric field application or electrical inje…
