量子等离激元光子学在若干方向的最新进展

等离激元光子学是围绕表面等离激元的原理和应用的学科,是纳米光学的重要组成部分.表面等离激元的本质是局域在材料界面纳米尺度内的多电子元激发.这一元激发可以与电磁场强烈耦合,使得我们可以通过纳米尺度结构接收,调控和辐射微米尺度光信息,并由此衍生出等离激元光子学的诸多应用.近年来,随着纳米加工尺度逼近量子极限,等离激元的量子特性受到了广泛关注.量子尺度的等离激元承接电子的波动性和光的粒子性,以其独特的內禀属性,在量子信息、高效光电器件、高灵敏探测等方面表现出十分诱人的前景.本综述重点介绍量子等离激元近年来的发展现状,回顾相关理论的发展以及与等离激元量子特性相关的一些突破性成果.最后对量子等离激元未来的发展进行了展望.     

量子等离激元管中窥豹

等离激元是金属中自由电子的集体振荡,其在物理,生物、化学、能源、信息等领域具有重要的应用前景.近些年来对等离激元量子效应研究的深入开展使得等离激元研究迈入了新阶段.本文首先简要介绍了等离激元的两个基本特性:光压缩效应和局域电场增强效应;随后回顾了量子等离激元方面的最新的进展,包括量子纠缠效应,量子尺寸效应,量子遂穿效应,等离激元在台阶势垒处的反射与激发,等离激元对电子相干效应的增强;最后对量子等离激元研究进行了总结和展望.     

若干In2Se3 化合物的晶体结构与电子特性

等离激元是金属中自由电子的集体振荡,其在物理,生物、化学、能源、信息等领域具有重要的应用前景。近些年来对等离激元量子效应研究的深入开展使得等离激元研究迈入了新阶段。本文首先简要介绍了等离激元的两个基本特性：光压缩效应和局域电场增强效应;随后回顾了量子等离激元方面的最新的进展,包括量子纠缠效应,量子尺寸效应,量子遂穿效应,等离激元在台阶势垒处的反射与激发,等离激元对电子相干效应的增强;最后对量子等离激元研究进行了总结和展望。     

表面等离激元光热效应研究进展

表面等离激元微纳结构能够将光场束缚在亚波长尺度,实现突破光学衍射极限的光操控,并显著增强光与物质的相互作用.在基于表面等离激元机理的光电器件研究中,微纳结构的自身光吸收通常被认为是损耗,而通过光热效应,光吸收则可有效利用并转换成热能,其中的物理过程研究和应用是当前等离激元学领域的热点方向.本文回顾了近年来表面等离激元微纳结构光热效应的相关工作,聚焦于表面等离激元热效应的物理过程、热产生和热传导调控方式的研究进展.在此基础上,介绍了表面等离激元微纳结构在微纳加工、宽谱光热转换等方面的应用.     

二维方形量子点体系等离激元的量子化

量子点体系等离激元的研究是光电子学领域的热点.为进一步加深和完善对等离激元的量子效应的认识,本文利用紧束缚近似和线性响应理论研究了二维方形量子点体系对外场的集体响应.结果表明,当外场频率等于等离激元的频率时,量子点体系会有强烈的电荷振荡,并伴随着能量的极大吸收和近场的增强.在量子点中,等离子体存在分立的元激发.等离子体元激发的个数将随着量子点尺寸和电子个数的增加而增加.随量子点尺寸的增加,分立的等离激元将逐步呈现准连续的特性,即过渡为经典连续的等离激元,其频谱曲线演化为经典的色散曲线.结果还表明:随量子点尺寸的增加,等离激元的频率会红移,等离激元的激发强度会增大;随量子点中电子数的增加,等离激元的频率会蓝移,等离激元的激发强度会增大.     

金属表面等离激元耦合理论研究进展

金属表面等离激元作为一种微纳米结构中自由电子在光场作用下的集体振荡效应,由于其振荡电场被强烈地束缚在亚波长尺度范围内,可以作为未来微纳米光子回路及器件的信息载体,同时也可以在微纳米尺度上增强光与物质的相互作用.本文首先系统地从理论上总结金属与入射电磁波相互作用时的光学行为及性质,然后简述激发金属中不同等离激元模式的物理本质、金属表面等离激元振荡动力学过程及当前表面等离激元耦合理论的最新进展.     

石墨烯等离激元增强红外光谱

红外光谱能够精准反映分子振动的信息,是表征材料成分和结构的重要手段.但是纳米尺度材料与微米尺度红外光波长之间约三个数量级的尺寸失配导致两者之间相互作用十分微弱,无法直接进行红外光谱表征.因此如何获得微量纳米材料的红外光谱信息成为了近年来红外光谱领域面临的关键挑战.等离激元能够将光场压缩实现局域光场增强,从而增强光与物质的相互作用.其中石墨烯等离激元因其具有高光场压缩、电学动态可调和低本征衰减等优点,为表面增强红外光谱提供了重要的解决方案.本文首先从不同材料体系出发介绍了红外等离激元,在此基础上从石墨烯的基本性质出发总结石墨烯等离激元及其在表面增强红外光谱上的优势,并重点介绍了石墨烯等离激元增强红外光谱的最新进展和应用,包括单分子层生物化学探测、气体识别和折射率传感等.最后对石墨烯等离激元增强红外光谱的下一步发展方向和应用前景进行了展望.     

表面等离激元增强的光和物质相互作用

表面等离激元近年来受到了广泛的关注.得益于表面等离激元的强局域约束作用,光场和能量被限制在亚波长尺度上,因而各种光和物质相互作用可得到显著的增强.表面等离激元的特性与材料、形貌、结构密切相关,相应的共振波长可覆盖紫外、可见光、近红外到远红外的光谱波段.由于表面等离激元的强局域电场,光与物质的相互作用,如荧光、拉曼散射、非线性光学、光热转换、光-声效应、催化、光伏转换等,都得以显著增强.本文简要回顾了表面等离激元的物理特性,具体讨论了各种基于表面等离激元增强的光和物质相互作用机理及相关应用,并探讨了存在的问题和进一步发展的方向.本文旨在为构造更高性能的表面等离激元器件,发展相关技术,进一步拓展表面等离激元的应用领域提供有益的参考.     

光解水的原子尺度机理和量子动力学

利用阳光直接将水分解为不含碳的氢气燃料和氧气是面向全球能源危机环保且低成本的解决方案.得益于电子结构理论和量子模拟方法的进步,人们已经能够直接研究在纳米颗粒上等离激元诱导光解水过程在原子尺度上的反应机理和超快动力学.本文简述近年来的相关工作进展.吸附在氧化物薄膜上的金纳米颗粒很有希望成为水分解的高效新型光催化剂.在光激发条件下,水分解反应速率和光强、热电子转移之间有强相关性.水分解速率不仅取决于光吸收强度,还受到等离激元量子振动模式的调控.这对于太阳能光解水器件中纳米颗粒的设计有借鉴意义.我们发现液态水在金团簇等离激元催化下100 fs内就能产生氢气.超快量子动力学模拟表明,该过程中场增强起主导作用,从金属到水反键态的超快电荷转移也扮演着重要角色.综合这些原子尺度上的量子动力学研究,我们提出受激水分子中氢原子高速碰撞(速度远远超出其热速度)合成氢分子的"链式反应"机理.     

基于COMSOL Multiphysics对Cu2S量子点的表面等离激元共振模拟研究

Cu₂S量子点作为一种新型半导体纳米材料以其特有的化学及光学性质而越来越被人们所关注. 本文通过应用COMSOL Multiphysics4.2a这一基于有限元法的模拟软件, 运用其中的电磁波模块, 结合Maxwell电磁波理论对影响Cu₂S量子点产生表 面等离激元共振的条件做出了模拟分析, 运用Kretschmann棱镜耦合系统建立了理论模型, 通过改变量子点的粒径、有机溶剂的折射率、入射光的波长以及对量子点进行包裹等方式, 模拟出在不同条件下Cu₂S量子点产生表面等离激元共振信号的情况, 为Cu₂S量子点在表面等离激元共振传感中的实际应用提供了理论依据和参考. 关键词： COMSOL Multiphysics 2S量子点')" href="#">Cu₂S量子点 表面等离激元共振 有限元法     

Recent Advances of Light Propagation in Surface Plasmon Enhanced Quantum Dot Devices

Surface plasmons are of particular interest recently as their performance is approaching the enhancement of light emission efficiencies, after synthesized close to the vicinity of solid state materials, i.e., semiconductor structure. As other scientific works have been proposed to improve the light-emitting efficiency, such as the use of resonant cavities, photon recycling, and thin-light emitting layers with periodic surface texturing, surface plasmon possesses a promising way to the light enhancement, due to the energy coupling effect between the emitted photons from the semiconductor and the metallic nanoparticles fabricated by nanotechnology. The usual pathway of plasmon enhanced light emitting devices is the use of Ag/Au nanoparticles coating the surface of semiconductor quantum dot (QD) or quantum well (QW) structures. However, apart from efforts to extract as much light as possible from single-driven surface plasmon-QD/QW, it is possible to enhance the light emission rate with double optical-excitations. This approach is based on the quantum interference between the external lasers and the localized quantum light, and promised to stimulate the development of plasmon-enhanced optical sensors. In this review, we describe the quantum properties of light propagation in hybrid nanoparticle and semiconductor materials, i.e., quantum dot or nanomechanical resonator coupled to Ag/Au nanoparticles, driven by two optical fields. Distinct with single excitation, plasmon-assisted complex driven by two optical fields, exhibit specific quantum interference characteristics that can be used as sensitive all-optical devices, such as the slow light switch, nonlinear optical Kerr modulator, and ultra-sensitive mass sensing. We summarize the recent advances of light propagation in surface plasmon-enhanced quantum dot devices, driven by two optical fields, which would stimulate the development of novel optical materials, deeper theoretical insights, innovative new devices, and plasmonic applications with potential for significant technological and societal impact.     

等离激元增强的石墨烯光吸收

石墨烯中等离激元具有特殊的光电性质,其和入射光的强烈耦合可以引起光吸收的增强.本文基于时域有限差分法和多体自洽场理论研究了等离激元对处于光学谐振腔中的石墨烯光吸收的影响.由于石墨烯中等离激元与入射光动量和能量不匹配而不能直接相互作用,因此石墨烯上施加了金属光栅结构.研究发现光栅结构能够对入射光进行动量补偿并且能够引起其下石墨烯中的电场强度产生很大程度增强,从而导致在该石墨烯结构中太赫兹等离激元和入射光发生强烈耦合而产生太赫兹等离极化激元,同时引起石墨烯光吸收的增强.希望本文能够加深对石墨烯光电特性的理解以及可以为基于石墨烯的太赫兹光电装置提供一定的理论依据.     

基于纳米天线的多通道高强度定向表面等离子体波激发

设计了一种带有纳米天线的金属微腔结构, 以实现高强度表面等离子的定向激发. 在利用双狭缝结构实现表面等离子体波定向激发的基础上, 分别结合共振增强和干涉相长原理, 在传统结构的入射端面上添加纳米天线结构, 并增加狭缝通道数, 实现了定向激发的表面等离子体波的能量增强. 基于纳米天线的多通道高强度定向表面等离子体波激发装置结构简单, 系统紧凑, 并能够有效提高定向传播的表面等离子体波的能量密度和传播距离, 其对微纳光学传输和高密度光学集成领域等方面的研究具有重要意义.     

Theoretical study of photon emission from single quantum dot emitter coupled to surface plasmons

Motivated by the recent pioneering advances on nanoscale plasmonics and also nanophotonics technology based on the surface plasmons (SPs), in this work, we give a master equation model in the Lindblad form and investigate the quantum optical properties of single quantum dot (QD) emitter coupled to the SPs of a metallic nanowire. Our main results demonstrate the QD luminescence results of photon emission show three distinctive regimes depending on the distance between QD and metallic nanowire, which elucidates a crossover passing from being metallic dissipative for much smaller emitter-nanowire distances to surface plasmon (SP) emission for larger separations at the vicinity of plasmonic metallic nanowire. Besides, our results also indicate that, for both the resonant case and the detuning case, through measuring QD emitter luminescence spectra and second-order correlation functions, the information about the QD emitter coupling to the SPs of the dissipative metallic nanowire can be extracted. This theoretical study will serve as an introduction to understanding the nanoplasmonic imaging spectroscopy and pave a new way to realize the quantum information devices.     

Another model for a multiexcitonic quantum dot in an optical microcavity

Very recently, a multiexcitonic quantum dot in an optical microcavity have been theoretically studied [Herbert Vincka, Boris A. Rodriguez, and Augusto Gonzalez, Physica E, 2006, 35: 99–102]. However, due to the inevitable damping losses through the microcavity, in this work, we will present a more precise and sound model in the Lindblad form master equation to investigate the photonic properties of a single quantum dot (QD) in an optical microcavity system, in which the QD may confine the multiexcitons and be in resonant interaction with a single photonic mode of an optical microcavity. The excitation energies, and the properties of the emission photon from the QD microcavity are computed as functions of the exciton-photon coupling strength, detuning, and pump rate. We further compare our results with their results, and find that the calculated intensity of the emitted photon and the spectra crucially depend on the exciton-photon coupling strength g, the photon detuning, and the number of excitons in the QD. Finally, we will give a physical mechanism of the dressed-state picture for the strong coupling between the single mode of an optical microcavity and the QD emitters to explain the details of the emission photon spectra. Our study establishes useful guidelines for the experimental study of such multiexcitonic quantum dot in an optical microcavity system.      

Plasmonic Dicke effect

We study cooperative emission by an ensemble of emitters, such as fluorescing molecules or semiconductor quantum dots, near a metal nanoparticle. The primary mechanism of cooperative emission is resonant energy transfer between emitters and plasmons rather than Dicke radiative coupling between emitters. The emission is dominated by three superradiant states with the same quantum yield as a single emitter, leading to a drastic reduction of ensemble radiated energy down to just thrice of that by a single emitter, the remaining energy being dissipated in the metal through subradiant states. We perform numerical calculations of system eigenstates and find that the plasmonic Dicke effect interactions affect is not impacted by the interactions between emitters or non-radiative losses in the metal.     

Controlled coupling of NV defect centers to plasmonic and photonic nanostructures

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect centers in diamond have recently emerged as promising candidates for a number of applications in the fields of quantum optics and quantum information, such as single photon generation and spin qubit operations. The performance of these defect centers can strongly be enhanced through coupling to plasmonic and photonic nanostructures, such as metal particles and optical microcavities. Here, we demonstrate the controlled assembly of such hybrid structures via manipulation with scanning near-field probes. In particular, we investigate the plasmonic enhancement of the single photon emission through coupling to gold nanospheres as well as the coupling of diamond nanocrystals to the optical modes of microsphere resonators and photonic crystal cavities. These systems represent prototypes of fundamental nanophotonic/plasmonic elements and provide control on the generation and coherent transfer of photons on the level of a single quantum emitter.     

High-Speed Quantum Transducer with a Single-Photon Emitter in a 2D Resonator

Quantum transducers can transfer quantum information between different systems. Microwave–optical photon conversion is important for future quantum networks to interconnect remote superconducting quantum computers with optical fibers. Here, a high-speed quantum transducer based on a single-photon emitter in an atomically thin membrane resonator, that can couple single microwave photons to single optical photons, is proposed. The 2D resonator is a freestanding van der Waals heterostructure (which may consist of hexagonal boron nitride, graphene, or other 2D materials) that hosts a quantum emitter. The mechanical vibration (phonon) of the 2D resonator interacts with optical photons by shifting the optical transition frequency of the single-photon emitter with strain or the Stark effect. The mechanical vibration couples to microwave photons by shifting the resonant frequency of an LC circuit that includes the membrane. Thanks to the small mass of the 2D resonator, both the single-photon optomechanical coupling strength and the electromechanical coupling strength can reach the strong coupling regime. This provides a way for high-speed quantum state transfer between a microwave photon, a phonon, and an optical photon.     

Plasmonic coupling from silver nanoparticle dimer array mediating surface plasmon resonant enhancement on the thin silver film

We investigate the optical absorption spectrum of a periodic array of silver nanoparticle dimer on a thin silver film using multiple-scattering formalism. Surface plasmon polariton mediated from silver nanoparticle dimer array is excited and enhanced by about four times compared with that from monomer array. This enhancement results from the coupling between the two nanoparticles’ plasmons of symmetry mode and anti-symmetry mode. We also illustrate the distance-dependent nanoparticle plasmonic coupling modes based on the polarized charge distribution in dimer geometry. The proposed silver nanoparticle dimer array can be used to enhance surface spectroscopy.     

Microcavity plasmonics: strong coupling of photonic cavities and plasmons

The understanding of light‐matter interactions at the nanoscale lays the groundwork for many future technologies, applications and materials. The scope of this article is the investigation of coupled photonic‐plasmonic systems consisting of a combination of photonic microcavities and metallic nanostructures. In such systems, it is possible to observe an exceptionally strong coupling between electromagnetic light modes of a resonator and collective electron oscillations (plasmons) in the metal. Furthermore, the results have shown that coupled photonic‐plasmonic structures possess a considerably higher sensitivity to changes in their environment than conventional localized plasmon sensors due to a plasmon excitation phase shift that depends on the environment.