Molecular beam epitaxy allows for the monolithic integration of wavelength-flexible epitaxial infrared plasmonic materials with quantum-engineered infrared optoelectronic active regions. We experimentally demonstrate a six-fold enhancement in photoluminescence from ultra-thin (total thickness λ o /32) long wavelength infrared (LWIR) superlattices grown on highly doped semiconductor 'designer metal' virtual substrates when compared to the same superlattice grown on an undoped virtual substrate. Analytical and numerical models of the emission process via a Dyadic Green's function formalism are in agreement with experimental results and relate the observed enhancement of emission to a combination of Purcell enhancement due to surface plasmon modes as well as directionality enhancement due to cavitysubstrate-emitter interaction. The results presented provide a potential path towards efficient, ultra-subwavelength LWIR emitter devices, as well as a monolithic epitaxial architecture offering the opportunity to investigate the ultimate limits of light-matter interaction in coupled plasmonic/optoelectronic materials.The field of plasmonics centers around the generation and manipulation of hybrid electromagnetic/charge density waves supported at metal/dielectric interfaces 1 . Plasmonics' revival as a field of intense scientific interest, approximately two decades ago 2 , promised a litany of transformational advances in optics, sensing, and optoelectronics 3 . The list of much-heralded applications included, but was not limited to, on-chip sub-diffraction limited waveguiding 4,5 , higher efficiency photovoltaics 6,7 , sub-diffraction-limited lasers 8-10 , ultra-efficient emitters 11,12 , and enhanced sensitivity sensor systems [13][14][15][16][17] . However, the promised efficiency gains associated with plasmonic enhancement have largely been offset by the intrinsic losses of plasmonic materials 18 , especially in the already high optical quality semiconductor platforms that have benefited from decades of research and development investment from the imaging, sensing, and telecom industries. The mid-IR, however, does not suffer from the affliction of extremely efficient emitters; quite the opposite, in fact. At these long wavelengths, a host of non-radiative recombination mechanisms (Shockley Read Hall, Auger, phonon-assisted, trap-assisted tunneling, etc) 19-23 conspire to severely limit radiative efficiency, with ever more pronounced effect as the wavelength of emission increases. The inherently low efficiency of mid-IR sources, though, offers very real room for improvement, which can potentially be realized with plasmonic materials engineered specifically for the mid-IR.While the noble metals (Au, Ag, etc) are the plasmonic materials of choice at visible and near-IR wavelengths, the large negative real permittivity of the noble metals at longer wavelengths results in optical properties more closely resembling those of perfect electrical conductors (PECs) than plasmonic materials 24 . The PEC-like nature of traditional ...
We numerically model and experimentally demonstrate sub-diffraction limited focusing of mid-infrared light using all-semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterial photonic funnels. Enhanced transmission through single funnels with aperture diameter /20 is demonstrated, in excellent agreement with our simulations.
We analyze the perspectives of the ballistic resonance to enable plasmonic and hyperbolic optical response of doped III-V semiconductors across the infrared frequency range. We demonstrate, experimentally and theoretically, plasmonic structures between 3-5 μn.
We demonstrate an order of magnitude enhancement of emission from mid-infrared emitters monolithically integrated with semiconductor designer metals relative to the same emitters on dielectric substrates and provide theoretical explanation of the observed phenomena.
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