Excitons spread through diffusion and interact through exciton-exciton annihilation. Nanophotonics can counteract the resulting decrease in light emission. However, conventional enhancement treats emitters as immobile and noninteracting. Here, we go beyond the localized Purcell effect to exploit exciton dynamics. As interacting excitons diffuse through optical hotspots, the balance of excitonic and nanophotonic properties leads to either enhanced or suppressed photoluminescence. We identify the dominant enhancement mechanisms in the limits of high and low diffusion and annihilation to turn their detrimental impact into additional emission. Our guidelines are relevant for efficient and high-power light-emitting diodes and lasers based on monolayer semiconductors, perovskites, or organic crystals.
Tailoring of electromagnetic spontaneous emission predicted by E. M. Purcell more than 50 years ago has undoubtedly proven to be one of the most important effects in the rich areas of quantum optics and nanophotonics. Although during the past decades the research in this field has been focused on electric dipole emission, the recent progress in nanofabrication and study of magnetic quantum emitters, such as rare-earth ions, has stimulated the investigation of the magnetic side of spontaneous emission. Here, we review the state-of-the-art advances in the field of spontaneous emission enhancemen…
The generation of radiation from free electrons passing a grating, known as Smith-Purcell radiation, finds various applications including non-destructive beam diagnostics and tunable light sources, ranging from terahertz towards X-rays. So far, the gratings used for this purpose have been designed manually, based on human intuition and simple geometric shapes. Here we apply the computer-based technique of nanophotonic inverse design to build a 1400nm Smith-Purcell radiator for sub-relativistic 30 keV electrons. We demonstrate that the resulting silicon nanostructure radiates with a 3-times-hig…
Chiral emission, where the handedness of a transition dipole determines the direction in which a photon is emitted, has recently been observed from atoms and quantum dots coupled to nanophotonic waveguides. Here, we consider the case of chiral light-matter interactions in resonant nanophotonic structures, deriving closed-form expressions for the fundamental quantum electrodynamic quantities that describe these interactions. We show how parameters such as the position dependent, directional Purcell factors and mode volume can be calculated using computationally efficient two dimensional eigenmo…
A calculation of the photonic Green's tensor of a structure is at the heart of many photonic problems, but for non-trivial nanostructures, it is typically a prohibitively time-consuming task. Recently, a general normal mode expansion (GENOME) was implemented to construct the Green's tensor from eigenpermittivity modes. Here, we employ GENOME to the study the response of a cluster of nanoparticles. To this end, we use the rigorous mode hybridization theory derived earlier by D. J. Bergman [Phys. Rev. B 19, 2359 (1979)], which constructs the Green's tensor of a cluster of nanoparticles from the …
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology（以色列理工学院）；Solid state institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology（以色列理工学院固体研究所）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）
Integration of solid state quantum emitters into nanophotonic circuits is a critical step towards fully on-chip quantum photonic based technologies. Among potential materials platforms, quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride have emerged over the last years as viable candidate. While the fundamental physical properties have been intensively studied over the last years, only few works have focused on the emitter integration into photonic resonators. Yet, for a potential quantum photonic material platform, the integration with nanophotonic cavities is an important cornerstone, as it enables…
The Purcell effect is defined as the modification of spontaneous decay in the presence of a resonator, and in plasmonics it is usually associated with the large local-field enhancement in "hot spots" due to surface plasmon polaritons. Here we propose a novel strategy for enhancing the Purcell effect through engineering the radiation directivity without a strict requirement of the local field enhancement. Employing this approach, we demonstrate how to enhance the Purcell effect by two orders of magnitude in all-dielectric nanostructures recently suggested as building blocks of low-loss nanophot…
The Purcell effect is usually described as a modification of the spontaneous decay rate in the presence of a resonator. In plasmonics, this effect is commonly associated with a large local-field enhancement in "hot spots" due to the excitation of surface plasmons. However, high-index dielectric nanostructures, which become the basis of all-dielectric nanophotonics, can not provide high values of the local-field enhancement due to larger radiation losses. Here, we demonstrate how to achieve a strong Purcell effect in all-dielectric nanostructures, and show theoretically that the Purcell factor …
Enhanced light-matter interaction at the nanoscale is pivotal in the foundation of nonlinear optics, quantum optics, and nanophotonics, which are essential for a vast range of applications including single-photon sources, nanolasers, and nanosensors. In this context, the combination of strongly confined polaritons and low-loss nanocavities provides a promising way to enhance light-matter interaction, thus giving rise to a high density of optical states, as quantified by the so-called Purcell factor - the ratio of the decay rate of an optical quantum emitter to its value in free space. Here, we…
We propose a scheme for efficient long-range energy transfer between two distant light emitters separated by more than one wavelength of light, i.e. much beyond the classical Forster radius. A hybrid nanoantenna-waveguide system mediates the transmission of energy, showing enhancements up to 10^8 as compared to vacuum. Our model shows how energy transfer in nanostructured media can be boosted, beyond the simple donor Purcell enhancement, and in particular for large donor-acceptor separations. The scheme we propose connects realistic emitters and could lead to practical on-chip implementations.
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is a promising platform for new generation optoelectronics and nanophotonics due to their unique optical properties. However, in contrast to direct bandgap TMDs monolayers, bulk samples have an indirect bandgap that restricts their application as light emitters. On the other hand, the high refractive index of these materials seems ideal for creating high-quality nanophotonic resonators with a strong Purcell effect. In this work, we fabricate Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators from bulk (i.e., indirect bandgap) MoSe$_2$ using resistless scanning pro…
The vast majority of proteins are intrinsically fluorescent in the ultraviolet, thanks to the emission from their tryptophan and tyrosine amino-acid constituents. However, the protein autofluorescence quantum yields are generally very low due to the prevailing quenching mechanisms by other amino acids inside the protein. This motivates the interest to enhance the radiative emission rate of proteins using nanophotonic structures. Although there have been numerous reports of Purcell effect and local density of optical states (LDOS) control in the visible range using single dipole quantum emitter…
Single-photon and correlated two-photon sources are important elements for optical information systems. Nonlinear downconversion light sources are robust and stable emitters of single photons and entangled photon pairs. However, the rate of downconverted light emission, dictated by the properties of low-symmetry nonlinear crystals, is typically very small, leading to significant constrains in device design and integration. In this paper, we show that the principles for spontaneous emission control (i.e. Purcell effect) of isolated emitters in nanoscale structures, such as metamaterials, can be…
Quantum light-matter interfaces (QLMIs) connecting stationary qubits to photons will enable optical networks for quantum communications, precise global time keeping, photon switching, and studies of fundamental physics. Rare-earth-ion (REI) doped crystals are state-of-the-art materials for optical quantum memories and quantum transducers between optical photons, microwave photons and spin waves. Here we demonstrate coupling of an ensemble of neodymium REIs to photonic nano-cavities fabricated in the yttrium orthosilicate host crystal. Cavity quantum electrodynamics effects including Purcell en…
Giant Purcell broadening and Lamb shift for DNA-assembled near-infrared quantum emitters
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)（洛桑联邦理工学院）；University of Fribourg（弗里堡大学）；Materials Physics Center CSIC-UPV/EHU（CSIC-巴斯克国立自治大学材料物理中心）；Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)（圣塞巴斯蒂安国际物理中心）；Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science（伊克拉巴斯科，巴斯克科学基金会）；University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)（巴斯克国立自治大学）
Advances in quantum photonics have shown that chip-scale quantum devices are translating from the realm of basic research to applied technologies. Recent developments in integrated photonic circuits and single photon detectors indicate that the bottleneck for fidelity in quantum photonic processes will ultimately lie with the photon sources. We present and demonstrate a silicon nanophotonic chip capable of emitting telecommunication band photon pairs that exhibit the highest raw degree of time-energy entanglement from a micro/nanoscale source, to date. Biphotons are generated through cavity-en…
When impinging on optical structures or passing in their vicinity, free electrons can spontaneously emit electromagnetic radiation, a phenomenon generally known as cathodoluminescence. Free-electron radiation comes in many guises: Cherenkov, transition, and Smith-Purcell radiation, but also electron scintillation, commonly referred to as incoherent cathodoluminescence. While those effects have been at the heart of many fundamental discoveries and technological developments in high-energy physics in the past century, their recent demonstration in photonic and nanophotonic systems has attracted …
Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) are of great interest for on-chip nanophotonics due to their unique optoelectronic properties. Here, we propose and realize coupling of tungsten diselenide (WSe2) monolayers to circular Bragg grating structures to achieve enhanced emission. The interaction between WSe2 and the resonant mode of the structure results in Purcell-enhanced emission, while the symmetric geometrical structure improves the directionality of the out-coupling stream of emitted photons. Furthermore, this hybrid structure produces a record high contrast of the spin v…
The recently emerged concept of all-dielectric nanophotonics based on optical Mie resonances in high-index dielectric nanoparticles has proven a promising pathway to boost light-matter interactions at the nanoscale. In this work, we discuss the opportunities enabled by the interaction of dielectric nanoresonators with 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs), leading to weak and strong coupling regimes. We perform a comprehensive analysis of bright exciton photoluminescence (PL) enhancement from various 2D TMDCs, including WS2, MoS2, WSe2, and MoSe2 via their coupling to Mie resonances o…
Molecule-by-molecule nanoresolved picosecond Purcell-enhanced emission at room-temperature in hollow plasmonic nanocone metamaterials
Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, CNRS（朗之万研究所，巴黎高等物理化工学院，巴黎文理研究大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Department of Physics, University of Ottawa（渥太华大学物理系）；Department of Chemical Engineering, MESA+ Institute, University of Twente（特温特大学应用科学学院，MESA+纳米技术研究所）；Mesoscale Chemical Systems, MESA+ Institute, University of Twente（特温特大学MESA+纳米技术研究所介观化学系统组）；Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)（圣塞巴斯蒂安国际物理中心）；University of Rochester, Institute of Optics（罗切斯特大学光学研究所）
Atomically flat semiconducting materials such as monolayer WSe$_2$ hold great promise for novel optoelectronic devices. Recently, quantum light emission has been observed from bound excitons in exfoliated WSe$_2$. As part of developing optoelectronic devices, the control of the radiative properties of such emitters is an important step. Here we report the coupling of a bound exciton in WSe$_2$ to open microcavities. We use a range of radii of curvature in the plano-concave cavity geometry with mode volumes in the $λ^3$ regime, giving Purcell factors of up to 8 while increasing the photon flux …
The ability to dynamically steer fs pulses from a monolithically integrated source is a critical milestone for the fields of nanophotonics and ultrafast optics. The nascent field of reconfigurable metasurfaces -- made of optically resonant meta-atoms -- has shown great promise in manipulating light-matter interactions through subwavelength control of the phase, amplitude, and polarization of light. These active metasurfaces arbitrarily transform an incident wavefront using a reconfigurable spatial phase profile and thus have been limited to manipulating coherent external sources. Light emittin…
Nanoscale light sources are being intensively investigated for their potential to enable low-energy, high-density optical communication and sensing systems. Both nano-light-emitting diodes (nanoLEDs) and nanolasers have been considered, based on advanced nanophotonic concepts such as photonic crystals and plasmonic structures, with dimensions well into the sub-micrometer domain. With decreasing dimensions, light-matter interaction becomes stronger, potentially leading to efficient and ultrafast radiative emission, both in the spontaneous and stimulated regime. These features have created wide …
Control over the spontaneous emission of light through tailored optical environments remains a fundamental paradigm in nanophotonics. The use of highly-confined plasmons in materials such as graphene provides a promising platform to enhance transition rates in the IR-THz by many orders of magnitude. However, such enhancements involve near-field plasmon modes or other kinds of near-field coupling like quenching, and it is challenging to use these highly confined modes to harness light in the far-field due to the difficulty of plasmonic outcoupling. Here, we propose that through the use of radia…
High-index dielectric nanostructures have recently become prominent forefront alternatives for manipulating light at the nanoscale. Their electric and magnetic resonances with intriguing characteristics endow them with a unique ability to strongly enhance near-field effects with minimal absorption. Similar to their metallic counterparts, dielectric oligomers consisting of two or more coupled particles are generally employed to create localized optical fields. Here we show that individual all-dielectric nanostructures, with rational designs, can produce strong electric fields with intensity enh…
