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Nanophotonics

Directional spontaneous emission in photonic crystal slabs

Erik Navarro-Barón, Herbert Vinck-Posada, Alejandro González-Tudela

Published Feb 24, 2024• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Spontaneous emission is one of the most fundamental out-of-equilibrium processes in which an excited quantum emitter relaxes to the ground state due to quantum fluctuations. In this process, a photon is emitted that can interact with other nearby emitters and establish quantum correlations between them, e.g., via super and subradiance effects. One way to modify these photon-mediated interactions is to alter the dipole radiation patterns of the emitter, e.g., by placing photonic crystals near them. One recent example is the generation of strong directional emission patterns - key to enhancing super and subradiance effects - in two dimensions by employing photonic crystals with band structures characterized by linear isofrequency contours and saddle points. However, these studies have predominantly used oversimplified toy models, overlooking the electromagnetic field's intricacies in actual materials, including aspects like geometrical dependencies, emitter positions, and polarization. Our study delves into the interaction between these directional emission patterns and the variables mentioned above, revealing the untapped potential to fine-tune collective quantum optical phenomena.

DOI
10.1515/nanoph-2023-0843

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Spontaneous emission is one of the most fundamental out-of-equilibrium processes in which an excited quantum emitter relaxes to the ground state due to quantum fluctuations. In this process, a photon is emitted that can interact with other nearby emitters and establish quantum correlations between them, e.g., via super and subradiance effects. One way to modify these photon-mediated interactions is to alter the dipole radiation patterns of the emitter, e.g., by placing photonic crystals near them. One recent example is the generation of strong directional emission patterns - key to enhancing super and subradiance effects - in two dimensions by employing photonic crystals with band structures characterized by linear isofrequency contours and saddle points. However, these studies have predominantly used oversimplified toy models, overlooking the electromagnetic field's intricacies in actual materials, including aspects like geometrical dependencies, emitter positions, and polarization. Our study delves into the interaction between these directional emission patterns and the variables mentioned above, revealing the untapped potential to fine-tune collective quantum optical phenomena.
Spontaneous emission is one of the most fundamental out-of-equilibrium processes in which an excited quantum emitter relaxes to the ground state due to quantum fluctuations. In this process, a photon is emitted that can interact with other nearby emitters and establish quantum correlations between them, e.g., via super and subradiance effects. One way to modify these photon-mediated interactions is to alter the dipole radiation patterns of the emitter, e.g., by placing photonic crystals near them. One recent example is the generation of strong directional emission patterns-key to enhancing super and subradiance effects-in two dimensions by employing photonic crystals with band structures characterized by linear isofrequency contours and saddle-points. However, these studies have predominantly used oversimplified toy models, overlooking the electromagnetic field's intricacies in actual materials, including aspects like geometrical dependencies, emitter positions, and polarization. Our study delves into the interaction between these directional emission patterns and the aforementioned variables, revealing the untapped potential to fine-tune collective quantum optical phenomena.
One of the most striking predictions of quantum electrodynamics is that vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field can lead to spontaneous emission of atoms as well as photon-mediated interactions among them. Since these processes strongly depend on the nature of the photonic bath, a current burgeoning field is the study of their modification in the presence of photons with non-trivial energy dispersions, e.g., the ones confined in photonic crystals. A remarkable example is the case of isotropic Dirac-photons, which has been recently shown to lead to non-exponential spontaneous emission as well as dissipation-less long-range emitter interactions. In this work, we show how to further tune these processes by considering anisotropic Dirac cone dispersions, which include tilted, semi-Dirac, and the recently discovered type II and III Dirac points. In particular, we show how by changing the anisotropy of the lattice one can change both the spatial shape of the interactions as well as its coherent/incoherent nature. Finally, we discuss a possible implementation where these energy dispersions can be engineered and interfaced with quantum emitters based on subwavelength atomic arrays.
The spontaneous-emission rate is evaluated for dipole emitters situated in the thin slab region between two semi-infinite one-dimensionally periodic photonic crystals, a situation reminiscent of planar cavity laser structures. It is pointed out that the long-wavelength electromagnetic fields supported by such complex structures can be directly quantized provided that the pair of semi-infinite photonic crystals are treated within the effective-medium approach, in which each photonic crystal is represented by a truncated uniaxial medium whose dielectric tensor components are determinable in terms of layer thicknesses and dielectric functions of the individual photonic crystal components. The spontaneous-emission rate is evaluated for a dipole emitter situated in the slab region, and oscillating at a frequency resonant with one of the modes that are localized within the slab and exponentially decaying within the photonic crystals. Both symmetric and asymmetric structures are discussed. Interesting features are predicted when the variations of the adjustable parameters are examined, including suppression and enhancement of the spontaneous rate.
One of the most striking predictions of quantum electrodynamics is that vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field can lead to spontaneous emission of atoms as well as photon-mediated interactions among them. Since these processes strongly depend on the nature of the photonic bath, a current burgeoning field is the study of their modification in the presence of photons with non-trivial energy dispersions, e.g. the ones confined in photonic crystals. A remarkable example is the case of isotropic Dirac-photons, which has been recently shown to lead to non-exponential spontaneous emission as well as dissipation-less long-range emitter interactions. In this work, we show how to further tune these processes by considering anisotropic Dirac cone dispersions, which include tilted, semi-Dirac, and the recently discovered type II and III Dirac points. In particular, we show how by changing the anisotropy of the lattice one can change both the spatial shape of the interactions as well as its coherent/incoherent nature. Finally, we theoretically analyze a possible implementation based on subwavelength atomic arrays where these energy dispersions can be engineered and interfaced with quantum emitters.
Subwavelength atomic arrays, recently labeled as quantum metamaterials, have emerged as an exciting platform for obtaining novel quantum optical phenomena. The strong interference effects in these systems generate subradiant excitations that propagate through the atomic array with very long lifetimes. Here, we demonstrate that one can harness these excitations to obtain tunable directional emission patterns and collective dissipative couplings when placing judiciously additional atoms nearby the atomic array. For doing that, we first characterize the optimal square array geometry to obtain directional emission patterns. Then, we characterize the best atomic positions to couple efficiently to the subradiant metasurface excitations and provide several improvement strategies based on entangled atomic clusters or bilayers. Afterward, we also show how the directionality of the emission pattern can be controlled through the relative dipole orientation between the auxiliary atoms and the one of the array. Finally, we benchmark how these directional emission patterns translate into to collective, anisotropic dissipative couplings between the auxiliary atoms by studying the lifetime modification of atomic entangled states.
Spontaneous emission from two two-level atoms within an anisotropic photonic crystal is investigated when direct dipole-dipole interaction is taken into account. The radiation properties of the present two atoms system are similar to that of a V-type three-level atom embedded in an anisotropic photonic crystal. The direct dipole-dipole interaction can enhance or depress the spontaneous emission depending on the relative position of the upper levels from the band edge of the photonic crystals. Owing to quantum interference and the dipole-dipole interaction, the spontaneous emission spectra are complicated non-Lorentzian shapes and depend strongly on the relative position of the upper levels from the bandgap and the initial state of the system.