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Updated: Jan 18, 2026
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Utilization of Plasmonic and Photonic Crystal Nanostructures for Enhanced Micro- and Nanoparticle Manipulation
Published on: September 27, 2011
12.6K
Designing two-photon molecular emitters in nanoparticle-on-mirror cavities.
S Smeets1, B Maes1, G Rosolen1
1Micro- and Nanophotonic Materials Group, Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, University of Mons, 20 Place du Parc, Mons B-7000, Belgium. Steve.Smeets@umons.ac.be.
Nanoscale Horizons
|September 8, 2025
Summary
Researchers modeled molecular two-photon emitters (TPSE), establishing design rules and identifying pathways. Plasmonic cavities dramatically enhanced TPSE rates, enabling efficient entangled photon pair generation from molecules.
Area of Science:
- Quantum Optics
- Molecular Photonics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Two-photon spontaneous emission (TPSE) is a second-order quantum process with potential in quantum optics.
- Molecular systems are typically inefficient emitters, limiting TPSE exploration.
- Understanding molecular TPSE requires distinct design principles compared to absorbers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model the first molecular two-photon emitters.
- To establish design rules for molecular TPSE.
- To investigate methods for enhancing inherently low TPSE rates in molecules.
Main Methods:
- Utilized time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) calculations.
- Modeled TPSE in three distinct π-conjugated molecular systems.
- Simulated plasmonic nanoparticle-on-mirror cavities for enhanced degenerate TPSE.
Main Results:
- Identified a dominant pathway for molecular TPSE.
- Achieved over 10 orders of magnitude enhancement in TPSE rates using plasmonic cavities.
- Demonstrated radiative efficiencies exceeding 50% for molecular TPSE.
- Observed TPSE rates surpassing vacuum one-photon emission in optimized structures.
Conclusions:
- Established design rules for molecular two-photon emitters.
- Plasmonic cavities offer a viable route to dramatically enhance molecular TPSE.
- Developed efficient molecular-based sources for entangled photon pairs.
