Tailoring light-matter interaction with a nanoscale plasmon resonator

Area of Science:

• Quantum optics
• Plasmonics
• Nanophotonics

Background:

• Quantum emitters are crucial for quantum technologies.
• Enhancing light-matter interactions is key to improving quantum device performance.
• Existing methods face limitations in efficiency and control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a new plasmon resonator design for enhanced light-matter interactions.
• To investigate the performance of silver nanowire-based resonators with distributed Bragg reflectors.
• To explore the potential for creating narrow-band single-photon sources from broadband emitters.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of plasmon resonators using defect-free silver nanowires.
• Integration of nanowires with patterned dielectric distributed Bragg reflectors.
• Characterization of resonator properties, including effective mode volume (Veff) and quality factor (Q).
• Measurement of spontaneous emission rate enhancement for quantum emitters.

Main Results:

• Achieved effective mode volume (Veff) two orders of magnitude below the diffraction limit.
• Obtained quality factor (Q) approaching 100.
• Demonstrated spontaneous emission rate enhancement exceeding 75 times at cavity resonance.
• Showcased the conversion of broadband emitters to narrow-band single-photon sources with color-selective enhancement.

Conclusions:

• The proposed plasmon resonator design significantly enhances light-matter interactions.
• This technology offers a pathway to highly efficient quantum emitters and tunable single-photon sources.
• The developed resonators provide a powerful tool for controlling quantum emission properties.