Nanopolaritons: Vacuum Rabi Splitting with a Single Quantum Dot in the Center of a Dimer Nanoantenna

Abstract

The demonstration of enhanced spontaneous emission of nanoscaled optical emitters near metallic nanoparticles and the recent realization of a nanolaser based on surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (spaser) encourage the search for strong coupling regime at the nanoscale. Here we propose the concept of nanopolaritons. We demonstrate with accurate scattering calculations that the strong coupling regime of a single quantum emitter (a semiconductor quantum dot) placed in the gap between two metallic nanoparticles can be achieved. The largest dimension of the investigated system is only 36 nm. Nanopolaritons will advance our fundamental understanding of surface plasmon enhanced optical interactions and could be used as ultra-compact elements in quantum-information technology.

The Morphology of Narrow Gaps Modifies the Plasmonic Response

“…The spatial field distribution observed for the different cavity modes, often with closely spaced maxima and minima, may be interesting for controlling the coherent interaction between different emitters in a gap, with potential application in energy transfer 104,105 or quantum information involving plasmonic states. 106 The faceted gap geometry may be also an adequate morphology to achieve strong coupling with self-assembled molecules 107,108 We provide an additional file where the spectral saturation of the lowest energy mode in the flat-gap antenna is shown, as derived within a circuit theory model. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.…”

Exciton-plasmon coupling interactions: from principle to applications

“…In a strong exciton-plasmon coupling regime, a coherent coupling between LSPs and excitons overwhelms all losses and results in two new mixed states of light. Hence, matter is separated energetically by a Rabi splitting that exhibits a characteristic anticrossing behavior of the exciton-LSP energy tuning [32][33][34]. In this regime, a new quasi-particle (plexciton) forms with distinct properties possessed by neither original particle.…”

Graphene Plasmonics: A Platform for Strong Light–Matter Interactions

“…* To whom correspondence should be addressed Surfaces plasmons (SPs), the electromagnetic waves coupled to charge excitations at the surface of a metal, are the pillar stones of applications as varied as ultrasensitive optical biosensing, 1-3 photonic metamaterials, 4 light harvesting, 5,6 optical nano-antennas, 7 and quantum information processing. [8][9][10][11] However, even noble metals, which are widely regarded as the best available plasmonic materials, 12 are hardly tunable and exhibit large ohmic losses that limit their applicability to optical processing devices.In this context, doped graphene emerges as an alternative, unique two-dimensional plasmonic material that displays a wide range of extraordinary properties. 13 This atomically thick sheet of carbon is generating tremendous interest due to its superior electronic and mechanical properties, 14-20 which originate in part from its charge carriers of zero effective mass (the so-called Dirac fermions 18 ) that can travel for micrometers without scattering, even at room temperature.…”

“…[8][9][10][11] However, even noble metals, which are widely regarded as the best available plasmonic materials, 12 are hardly tunable and exhibit large ohmic losses that limit their applicability to optical processing devices.…”