Harnessing the spontaneous emission of incoherent quantum emitters is one of the hallmarks of nano-optics. Yet, an enduring challenge remains-making them emit vector beams, which are complex forms of light associated with fruitful developments in fluorescence imaging, optical trapping and high-speed telecommunications. Vector beams are characterized by spatially varying polarization states whose construction requires coherence properties that are typically possessed by lasers-but not by photons produced by spontaneous emission. Here, we show a route to weave the spontaneous emission of an ensemble of colloidal quantum dots into vector beams. To this end, we use holographic nanostructures that impart the necessary spatial coherence, polarization and topological properties to the light originating from the emitters. We focus our demonstration on vector vortex beams, which are chiral vector beams carrying non-zero orbital angular momentum, and argue that our approach can be extended to other forms of vectorial light.
It is well known that concentric diffraction gratings are capable of beaming the spontaneous emission of large extended incoherent light sources (e.g. hot radiating surfaces and luminescent materials). Here, we reveal additional properties of such beams using layers of colloidal PbS nanocrystals coated onto metallic spiraling gratings as an example. We observe and explain with a simple model the formation of multiple beams when the spirals are deformed. We also point out an aspect of the light emission that does not seem to have been discussed so farnamely, that the polarization of the directional beams has a radial distribution. These findings are not restricted to our experimental configuration, suggesting a simple way to build incandescent and electroluminescent sources with non-trivial polarization states. The price to pay is an isotropic emission background due to the composite nature of the beams, which result from the incoherent superposition of a continuum of diffracted plasmons everywhere above the surface.
We show a way to pattern the visible electroluminescence of solution-processed mesoporous ZnO layers. Our approach consists in locally changing the nanoscale morphology of the coated ZnO layers by patterning the underlying surface with thin metallic patches. Above the metal, the ZnO film is organized in clusters that enhance its defect-induced electroluminescence. The resulting emission occurs over a large continuum of wavelengths in the visible and near-infrared range. This broad emission continuum is filtered by thin-film interferences that develops within the device, making it possible to fabricate LEDs with different colors by adjusting the thickness of their transparent electrode. When the metallic patterns used to change the morphology of the ZnO layer reach sub-micron dimensions, additional plasmonic effects arise, providing extra degrees of freedom to tune the colour and polarization of the emitted photons.
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