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Chinese Optics Letters

Phase sensitivity plasmon resonance enhanced nonlinear diffraction in a hybrid artificial molecule

Muhua Zhai, Feng Wen, Shaowei Zhang, Huapeng Ye, Zhenkun Wu, Jiani Li, Zhaotian Sun, Boning Wen, Wei Wang, Fang Lin, Yanpeng Zhang, Hongxing Wang

Published Jan 1, 2025• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The emergence of hybrid nanostructures has paved a novel path for the development of nanotechnology and next-generation quantum devices.In this study, we report a remarkable enhancement of nonlinear diffraction achieved within a hybrid artificial molecule consisting of a semiconductor quantum dot (SQD) and a metal nanoparticle (MNP).Our findings reveal that the optical nonlinear properties of the hybrid system can be substantially enhanced due to the plasmon resonance of MNP.Specifically, reducing the interparticle distance and the SQD's size while increasing the MNP's size leads to a significant enhancement in the nonlinear phase modulation of the hybrid system.Meanwhile, the absorption spectra exhibit a redshift accompanied by linewidth broadening under the SQD-MNP coupling interaction controlled by geometric parameters, indicating plasmon-exciton energy transfer.On this basis, it is validated that the enhanced nonlinear phase modulation greatly improves the self-imaging visibility and the signal-to-noise ratio, and extends the near-field pattern over more Talbot lengths.We also demonstrate that the far-field diffraction efficiency is tunable via the coupling interaction between the artificial molecule and external fields, which is determined by the geometric structure, photon detuning, and Rabi frequency.For instance, the first-order diffraction efficiency can be increased from 39.58% to 55% if the geometric parameters of the hybrid system satisfy the threshold in non-resonance conditions.Such plasmon-enhanced optical lattices show potential for applications in all-optical modulators and all-optical switches operating at few-photon levels, and may also afford a novel perspective for the design and development of nanophotonics circuits and topological photonic devices.

DOI
10.3788/col202523.111902

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The emergence of hybrid nanostructures has paved a novel path for the development of nanotechnology and next-generation quantum devices.In this study, we report a remarkable enhancement of nonlinear diffraction achieved within a hybrid artificial molecule consisting of a semiconductor quantum dot (SQD) and a metal nanoparticle (MNP).Our findings reveal that the optical nonlinear properties of the hybrid system can be substantially enhanced due to the plasmon resonance of MNP.Specifically, reducing the interparticle distance and the SQD's size while increasing the MNP's size leads to a significant enhancement in the nonlinear phase modulation of the hybrid system.Meanwhile, the absorption spectra exhibit a redshift accompanied by linewidth broadening under the SQD-MNP coupling interaction controlled by geometric parameters, indicating plasmon-exciton energy transfer.On this basis, it is validated that the enhanced nonlinear phase modulation greatly improves the self-imaging visibility and the signal-to-noise ratio, and extends the near-field pattern over more Talbot lengths.We also demonstrate that the far-field diffraction efficiency is tunable via the coupling interaction between the artificial molecule and external fields, which is determined by the geometric structure, photon detuning, and Rabi frequency.For instance, the first-order diffraction efficiency can be increased from 39.58% to 55% if the geometric parameters of the hybrid system satisfy the threshold in non-resonance conditions.Such plasmon-enhanced optical lattices show potential for applications in all-optical modulators and all-optical switches operating at few-photon levels, and may also afford a novel perspective for the design and development of nanophotonics circuits and topological photonic devices.
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Photoinduced diffraction grating is theoretically investigated in a three-level ladder-type hybrid artificial molecule comprised of a semiconductor quantum dot (SQD) and a metal nanoparticle (MNP). The SQD and the MNP are coupled via the Coulomb interaction. The probe absorption vanishes under the action of a strong coupling field, indicating an effect of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Based on this EIT effect, diffraction grating is achievable when a standing-wave coupling field is applied. It turns out that the efficiency of diffraction grating is greatly improved due to the existence of the MNP. Furthermore, the diffraction efficiency can be controlled by tuning the interaction strength between the SQD and the MNP. Nearly pure phase grating is obtained, showing high transmissivity and high diffraction efficiency up to 33%.
The self-Kerr nonlinear optical response of a probe field is investigated in the presence of a near-resonant pump field in coupled metal nanoparticle (MNP)–semiconductor quantum dot (SQD) nanostructures. The study of the spectra is based on the solution of the resulted density matrix equations for the case of a colloidal CdSe-based SQD–(Au)MNP molecule, as well as for an epitaxial SQD structure coupled to an Au nanoparticle. It is demonstrated that below a critical value of the interparticle distance the susceptibility of each distinct component of the structure exhibits a characteristic single-resonance spectrum, whereas above this value, the spectrum has three resonances. This phenomenon can be understood in terms of the theory of exciton–plasmon quantum metastates. In addition, the conditions under which optical transparency occurs with a concurrent positive self-phase-modulation coefficient are also identified.
In the present work, we investigate the modified nonlinear pump-probe optical properties due to the excitonic–plasmonic interaction of a double semiconductor quantum dot (SQD) molecule coupled to a metal nanoparticle (MNP). More specifically, we study the absorption and the dispersion spectra of a weak electromagnetic field in a hybrid structure with two counterparts, a molecule of two coupled SQDs, and a spherical MNP driven by a field of high intensity. We solve the relevant density matrix equations, calculate the first-order optical susceptibility of the probe field in the strong pumping regime, and investigate the way in which the distance between the two counterparts modifies the optical response, for a variety of values of the physical constants of the system, including the pump-field detuning, the tunnelling rate, and the energy separation gap associated with the excited states of the coupled SQDs.
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We study optical effects in a hybrid system composed of a semiconductor quantum dot (SQD) and a spherical metal nanoparticle (MNP) that interacts with a weak probe and a strong pump electromagnetic field. We use modified nonlinear density matrix equations for the description of the optical properties of the system and calculate, numerically, the first-order susceptibilities of the SQD, the MNP, and the total hybrid nanostructure of the probe field in the presence of the pump field. We investigate the dependence of the probe absorption and dispersion spectra of the SQD, the MNP, and the total nanostructure on the interparticle distance and the detuning of the pump field, and stress the influence of the MNP contribution to the total optical response. The results we find are explained according to the theory of two distinct metastates, which constitute conjugations of the SQD excitonic and the MNP plasmonic excitations. We also show that the optical response strongly depends on the actual values of the SQD material parameters.