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arXiv:1612.06073 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Suppressed dissipation of a quantum emitter coupled to surface plasmon polaritons

Chun-Jie Yang, Jun‐Hong An

Published Apr 26, 2017• 48 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Enabling the confinement of light to a scale far below the one of conventional optics, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) induced by an electromagnetic field in a metal-dielectric interface supply an ideal system to explore strong quantized light-matter coupling. The fast matter-SPP population exchange reported in previous works makes it a candidate for spin manipulation, but such reversible dynamics asymptotically vanishes accompanying the quantum matter relaxing completely to its ground state. Here, we study the exact dissipative dynamics of a quantum emitter (QE) coupled to SPPs. It is interesting to find that, qualitatively different from conventional findings, the QE can be partially stabilized in its excited state even in the presence of the lossy metal. Our analysis reveals that it is the formation of a QE-SPP bound state which results in such suppressed dissipation. Enriching the decoherence dynamics of the QE in the lossy medium, our result is helpful to understand QE-SPP interactions and apply plasmonic nanostructures in quantum devices.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.95.161408

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Enabling the confinement of light to a scale far below the one of conventional optics, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) induced by an electromagnetic field in a metal-dielectric interface supply an ideal system to explore strong quantized light-matter coupling. The fast matter-SPP population exchange reported in previous works makes it a candidate for spin manipulation, but such reversible dynamics asymptotically vanishes accompanying the quantum matter relaxing completely to its ground state. Here, we study the exact dissipative dynamics of a quantum emitter (QE) coupled to SPPs. It is interesting to find that, qualitatively different from conventional findings, the QE can be partially stabilized in its excited state even in the presence of the lossy metal. Our analysis reveals that it is the formation of a QE-SPP bound state which results in such suppressed dissipation. Enriching the decoherence dynamics of the QE in the lossy medium, our result is helpful to understand QE-SPP interactions and apply plasmonic nanostructures in quantum devices.
A bound state between a quantum emitter (QE) and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) can be formed, where the excited QE will not relax completely to its ground state and is partially stabilized in its excited state after a long time. We develop some theoretical methods for investigating this problem and show how to form such a bound state and its effect on the non-Markovian decay dynamics. We put forward an efficient numerical approach for calculating the analytical part of the self-energy for frequency below the lower energy threshold. We also propose an efficient formalism for obtaining the long-time value of the excited-state population without calculating the eigenfrequency of the bound state or performing a time evolution of the system, in which the probability amplitude for the excited state in the steady limit is equal to one minus the integral of the evolution spectrum over the positive frequency range. With the above two quantities obtained, we show that the non-Markovian decay dynamics of an initially excited QE can be efficiently obtained by the method based on the Green's function expression for the evolution operator when a bound state exists. A general criterion for identifying the existence of a bound state is presented. The performances of the above methods are numerically demonstrated for a QE located around a metal nanosphere and in a gap plasmonic nanocavity. Numerical results show that these methods work well and the QE becomes partially stabilized in its excited state at a long time for the transition dipole moment beyond its critical value. In addition, it is also found that this critical value is heavily dependent on the distance between the QE and the metal surface, but nearly independent on the size of the nanosphere or the rod. Our methods can be utilized to understand the suppressed decay dynamics for a QE in an open quantum system and provide a general picture on how to form such a bound state.
Allowing the generation of effective interactions between distant quantum emitters (QEs) via flying photons, quantum interconnect (QI) is essentially a light-matter interface and acts as a building block in quantum technologies. A surface plasmon polariton (SPP) supported by a metallic waveguide provides an ideal interface to explore strong light-matter couplings and to realize QI. However, the loss of SPP in metal makes the mediated entanglement of the QEs damp with the increase of the distance and time, which hinders its applications. We propose a scheme of non-Markovian QI formed by the SPP of a metallic nanowire. A mechanism to make the generated entanglement of the QEs persistent is discovered. We find that, as long as bound states are formed in the energy spectrum of total QE-SPP system, the damping of the SPP-mediated entanglement is overcome even in the presence of the metal absorption to the SPP. Our finding enriches our understanding of light-matter couplings in absorptive medium and paves the way for using the SPP in designing QI.
We develop a microscopic quantum theory of surface plasmon polaritons valid for arbitrary metal-dielectric geometries. Our framework is based on the Power-Zienau-Woolley representation of quantum electrodynamics, which provides an optimal separation between electronic and photonic degrees of freedom and is therefore particularly well suited for constructing quantum descriptions of polaritonic excitations in strongly dispersive media. Within this formulation, the fundamental electronic oscillator is identified as the bulk plasmon mode, which is nonperturbatively coupled to the radiative continuum of free photon modes. This coupling induces a geometry-dependent renormalization of the bulk plasma frequency, giving rise to confined plasmonic resonances. As specific applications, we recover the localized surface plasmon modes of metallic nanoparticles, including radiative frequency shifts and decay, as well as the exact dispersion relation of propagating surface plasmon polaritons at planar interfaces. Our quantum treatment further reveals that light-matter interactions at metal-dielectric interfaces are inherently in the ultrastrong coupling regime. As a result, in the quasistatic limit, the system exhibits unconventional ground-state quantum fluctuations that can be controlled through the refractive index. These results open new intriguing perspectives in the field of quantum plasmonics.
Surface plasmon polaritons are charge density waves of electrons in a metal, which are coupled to an electromagnetic field at a metal-dielectric interface. The electro- magnetic field associated with surface plasmons is confined, resulting in increased field intensities near the interface. Optical emitters placed near a metal film interact strongly with the surface plasmon modes present, not only modifying the radiation rates, but also the radiation profile. These emitters may be used to store and process information, and understanding their behaviour in the presence of a lossy metal film is important in determining the advantages and limitations of using surface plasmons. In this thesis, we wish to understand how we can optically control atoms by exploring two physical phenomena: first, the influence of surface plasmons on collective effects in an ensemble of emitters. Secondly, the single photon excitation of an emitter near a metal film. In the first case, we analyze the collective radiative behaviour of multiple classical emitters near a metal film that radiatively couple to the far-field through surface plasmon modes. We demonstrate that the contributions of dipolar image charges within the metal film significantly affect the cooperative emission of nearby sources, generating sub- and super-radiant emission that can be controlled with a suitably detuned external driving field. In the second case, we determine the excitation probability of an atom near a metal film by a single photon pulse that is time reversed. Using a quantum electro- dynamic description of absorbing dielectrics, we show that non-radiative decay will limit the excitation probability to about half of the maximum that could be achieved in the absence of losses.
Light-matter interactions underlie many quantum technologies, yet whether quasiparticles formed from such interactions preserve the full quantum state of light remains unresolved. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), a class of polaritons formed by interacting photons with free-electron oscillations at metal-dielectric interfaces, are prime candidates to explore this question. Here we demonstrate quantum interference between single photons and SPPs using an Au-SiNx_{\mathrm{x}}x​ integrated photonic-plasmonic device. Our results reveal that SPPs retain the indistinguishability of their excitation photons, establishing SPP as a viable quantum information carrier and opening a potential route toward photonic-plasmonic quantum circuitry.
Plasmons in nanostructured metals are widely utilized to trigger strong light-matter interactions with quantum light sources. While the nonclassical behavior of such quantum emitters (QEs) is well understood in this context, the role of quantum and surface effects in the plasmonic resonator is usually neglected. Here, we combine the Green's tensor approach with the Feibelman ddd-parameter formalism to theoretically explore the influence of quantum surface effects in metal-dielectric layered nanostructures on the relaxation dynamics of a proximal two-level QE. Having identified electron spill-out as the dominant source of quantum effects in jellium-like metals, we focus our study on sodium. Our results reveal a clear splitting in the emission spectrum, indicative of having reached the strong coupling regime, and, more importantly, non-Markovian relaxation dynamics of the emitter. Our findings establish that strong light-matter coupling is not suppressed by the emergence of nonclassical surface effects in the optical response of the metal.