Light Emission by a Thermalized Ensemble of Emitters Coupled to a Resonant Structure

Abstract

Light emission by ensembles of emitters can be tailored using resonators such as cavities or plasmonic antennas. While concepts such as field enhancement, Purcell effect, and quenching can be used to understand the interplay between a two‐level system and a resonator, they fail to account for light emission by ensembles of emitters. Recent experiments reporting light emission by thermalized molecules, quantum dots, and hot electrons excited optically or electrically are reviewed. It is shown that the local Kirchhoff's law provides a unified framework to discuss photoluminescence, electroluminescence, and thermal radiation by ensembles of thermalized emitters coupled to resonators.

Making Quantum Emitters Emit Vector Vortex Beams

“…First, it is crucial to notice that we do not observe a quenching of the photoluminescence, usually observed when a single quantum emitter is put in direct contact with a metallic surface. This unintuitive behavior has been recently explained by the realization that an ensemble of cQDs is very different from the single emitter case and that they respond to a new regime of light-matter interactions described by a local Kirchhoff law [5]. Then, as explained in the introduction, in order to reshape the spontaneous of cQDs, we need to maximize their spatial coherence.…”

Quelle est la couleur de l’or ?

“…Pour illustration, le courbe rouge sur la figure 2(a) est une régression de la loi de Planck sur les données expérimentales comprises entre 420 nm et 670 nm. La température (électronique) déduite est de T e =1766 K. Même si l' équilibre thermodynamique entre les électrons et les photons est rompu durant cette phase ultrabrève, les électrons obéissent à une forme locale de la loi de Kirchhoff [10]. Un point intéressant est que la dynamique de cette photoluminescence est dictée par la cinétique de relaxation des électrons chauds, c' est-à-dire quelques picosecondes, tout au plus.…”

“Amplified Spontaneous Emission” in Micro- and Nanolasers

“…A generalized thermodynamical treatment of Kirchoff's law [44] enables the description of subsystems with different temperatures-thus out of equilibrium-bridging the gap between the traditional thermal point of view and more modern devices. Its applications are numerous and, in addition to enabling more efficient, tailored coupling between emitters and space, offers one more step in the description of the radiation field starting from the ideal spontaneous emission (one single emitter in vacuum) all the way to the non-equilibrium situation, eventually represented by the laser [45]. Potential interest for futuristic high-speed communications rests on the development of these concepts [46].…”