Numerical synthesis of metallic nanostructures for enhancing the emission of a dipole through surface plasmon coupling

In this study, we numerically synthesize a two-dimensional metallic nanostructure consisting of a Au half-space and two separate Ag elliptical cylinders by the simulated annealing (SA) method. The simulated nanostructure is so designed that the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) and the localized surface plasmon (LSP) are simultaneously excited at their common resonant wavelength (535 nm), leading to the enhancement of emission of a nearby dipole source. This enhancement effect is more significant than that of the case where only one of the SPP and LSP is excited. In numerically synthesizing a metallic nanostructure, we try to maximize both the downward emission (in the direction away from the metallic structure) and the emission efficiency. A cost function is defined as some combination of the downward emission and the emission efficiency. We adjust the simulated structure by SA to minimize the cost function at a designated resonant wavelength, and calculate and analyze the spectra of downward emission and emission efficiency for the optimal structure. Other structures are also investigated for comparison. From numerical simulations, it is demonstrated that the enhancement of dipole emission is better for optimization at wavelength 535 nm than at other wavelengths. Note that the downward emission and the emission efficiency can reach maxima almost simultaneously when the SPP and the LSP couple effectively at a common resonant wavelength. This implies that the lighting efficiency of green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be increased by the coupling effect at a common resonant wavelength of SPP and LSP.