Chimera states in plasmonic nanoresonators

Abstract

The chimera state is the concurrent combination of synchronous and incoherent oscillations in a set of identical oscillators. In this study, we demonstrate the states for optical nanoresonators where the oscillators are designed based on a plasmonic dimer cavity. This resonator interchanges radiative energy with an active medium located at its hotspot, and therefore forms an amplitude-mediated oscillating system. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD)-based numerical analysis of a circular array of the coupled oscillators reveals that regardless of identical nature, oscillator phase is not concordant over time for all members. The effect of coupling strength on the phase escape/synchronization of the oscillators is investigated for the plasmonic nanoresonator system. It is shown that for identical oscillators, which are placed symmetrically over the perimeter of a disc, the array can be divided to several subgroups of concurrent coherent and incoherent members. While the oscillator of each subgroup seems to be locked together, one member can escape from synchronization for a while and return to coherency, or it can sync with the other groups. The effect of coupling strength and number of oscillators on the phase-escape pace is studied for this system, and strong coupling is shown to force the array members to fully synchronize while weaker coupling causes chimera states in the array.