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arXiv:1701.00386 · ACS Photonics

A Single-Emitter Gain Medium for Bright Coherent Radiation from a Plasmonic Nanoresonator

Pu Zhang, Игорь Евгеньевич Проценко, Vahid Sandoghdar, Xuewen Chen

Published Oct 5, 2017• 24 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate theoretically bright coherent radiation from a plasmonic nanoresonator powered by a single three-level quantum emitter. By introducing a dual-pump scheme in a Raman configuration for the three-level system, we overcome the fast decay of nanoplasmons and achieve macroscopic accumulation of nanoplasmons on the plasmonic nanoresonator for stimulated emission. We utilize the optical antenna effect for efficient radiation of the nanoplasmons and predict photon emission rates of 100 THz with up to 10 ps duration pulses and GHz repetition rates with the consideration of possible heating issue. We show that the ultrafast nature of the nanoscopic coherent source allows for operation with solid-state emitters at room temperature in the presence of fast dephasing. We provide physical interpretations of the results and discuss their realization and implications for ultracompact integration of optoelectronics.

DOI
10.1021/acsphotonics.7b00608

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We propose and demonstrate theoretically bright coherent radiation from a plasmonic nanoresonator powered by a single three-level quantum emitter. By introducing a dual-pump scheme in a Raman configuration for the three-level system, we overcome the fast decay of nanoplasmons and achieve macroscopic accumulation of nanoplasmons on the plasmonic nanoresonator for stimulated emission. We utilize the optical antenna effect for efficient radiation of the nanoplasmons and predict photon emission rates of 100 THz with up to 10 ps duration pulses and GHz repetition rates with the consideration of possible heating issue. We show that the ultrafast nature of the nanoscopic coherent source allows for operation with solid-state emitters at room temperature in the presence of fast dephasing. We provide physical interpretations of the results and discuss their realization and implications for ultracompact integration of optoelectronics.
We investigate surface plasmon amplification in a silver nanoparticle coupled to an externally driven three-level gain medium and show that quantum coherence significantly enhances the generation of surface plasmons. Surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation is achieved in the absence of population inversion on the spasing transition, which reduces the pump requirements. The coherent drive allows us to control the dynamics and holds promise for quantum control of nanoplasmonic devices.
Solid-state quantum emitters are in high demand for emerging technologies such as advanced sensing and quantum information processing. Generally, these emitters are not sufficiently bright for practical applications, and a promising solution consists in coupling them to plasmonic nanostructures. Plasmonic nanostructures support broadband modes, making it possible to speed up the fluorescence emission in room-temperature emitters by several orders of magnitude. However, one has not yet achieved such a fluorescence lifetime shortening without a substantial loss in emission efficiency, largely because of strong absorption in metals and emitter bleaching. Here, we demonstrate ultrabright single-photon emission from photostable nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nanodiamonds coupled to plasmonic nanocavities made of low-loss single-crystalline silver. We observe a 70-fold difference between the average fluorescence lifetimes and a 90-fold increase in the average detected saturated intensity. The nanocavity-coupled NVs produce up to 35 million photon counts per second, several times more than the previously reported rates from room-temperature quantum emitters.
Quantum technologies are widely expected to bring a revolution in communications and information technologies in the coming decade allowing, for example, un-paralleled levels of secure communications. For quantum communication, photonic quantum effects have played a central role, but most photonic solutions and systems based on light-matter interaction also require cryogenic environments. Strong coupling of light and matter at the single emitter level is a fundamental quantum resource offering deterministic energy exchange between single photons and a two-level system, and the possibility to achieve single-photon nonlinearities via the anharmonicity of the Jaynes-Cummings ladder. Until recently, however, the conditions for achieving strong-coupling were most commonly met at cryogenic temperatures such that de-coherence processes are suppressed. As a major step forward, we have recently demonstrated room-temperature strong coupling of single molecules [1] and single quantum dots [2] to ultra-confined light fields in plasmonic resonators at ambient conditions. The fact that strong-coupling conditions may be reached at room temperature is of immense interest because it represents a clear route to a practical implementation and use of quantum behaviour in nanophotonic systems and its application in bio-sensing [3]. The talk will discuss how nanoplasmonics can be an enabler of ultrafast room-temperature quantum nanophotonic networks via strong coupling and ultrafast quantum dynamics [4]. We will highlight the physics associated with recently demonstrated room-temperature strong coupling of single molecules in a plasmonic nano-cavity [1] and near-field generated strong coupling of single quantum dots [2] and single quantum emitter Dicke enhancement [5] paving the road towards single-photon quantum nonlinearities. The presentation will also explain near-field enhanced single-photon emission in near-zero index materials [6] and ultrafast multi-partite quantum entanglement [7]. This provides the foundation for unprecedented control over photon number, single photon dynamics, and dynamic multi-photon coherence. These properties are all imperative for the development of next-generation, nanoscale building blocks in ambient-temperature photonic quantum communication technologies.
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Nanoplasmonic metamaterials are an exciting new class of engineered media that promise a range of important applications, such as subwavelength focusing, cloaking, and slowing/stopping of light. At optical frequencies, using gain to overcome potentially not insignificant losses has recently emerged as a viable solution to ultra-low-loss operation that may lead to next-generation active metamaterials. Maxwell-Bloch models for active nanoplasmonic metamaterials are able to describe the coherent spatiotemporal and nonlinear gain-plasmon dynamics. Here, we extend the Maxwell-Bloch theory to a Maxwell-Bloch Langevin approach-a spatially resolved model that describes the light field and noise dynamics in gain-enhanced nanoplasmonic structures. Using the example of an optically pumped nanofishnet metamaterial with an embedded laser dye (four-level) medium exhibiting a negative refractive index, we demonstrate the transition from loss-compensation to amplification and to nanolasing. We observe ultrafast relaxation oscillations of the bright negative-index mode with frequencies just below the THz regime. The influence of noise on mode competition and the onset and magnitude of the relaxation oscillations is elucidated, and the dynamics and spectra of the emitted light indicate that coherent amplification and lasing are maintained even in the presence of noise and amplified spontaneous emission.