Quantum coherence-assisted propagation of surface plasmon polaritons

Abstract

We theoretically demonstrate coherent control over propagation of surface plasmon polaritons(SPP), at both telecommunication and visible wavelengths, on a metallic surface adjacent to quantum coherence (phaseonium) medium composed of three-level quantum emitters (semiconductor quantum dots, atoms, rare-earth ions, etc.) embedded in a dielectric host. The coherent drive allows us to provide sufficient gain for lossless SPP propagation and also lowers the pumping requirements. In case of lossy propagation, an order of magnitude enhancement in propagation length can be achieved. Optical control over SPP propagation dynamics via an external coherent drive holds promise for quantum control in the field of nanophotonics. to name a few. On the other hand quantum coherence and interference effects in atomic and molecular physics have been extensively studied due to its intriguing counterintuitive physics and potential important applications [5]. Extending coherence effects to plasmonics is often encountered with sever challenges like ultrafast (1-10 fs) relaxation time scale of the surface plasmons (SP) and large intrinsic losses [6]. These road blocks limit the realization of SPP based practical optical devices.Amplification of localized SP and SPP using gain medium like quantum dots(QDs) has gained interests due to its ability to compensate the energy dissipation limits [7][8][9][10][11]. Unfortunately the gain provided by active medium is not always sufficient due to impractical requirements [12,13] or competing processes like amplified spontaneous emission of SPP(ASESPP) which may limit the gain available for loss compensation [14].In this Letter, we enhance the propagation length of SPPs, which depends on the internal and radiation damping[6], via quantum coherence. We consider SPP propagation on a planar metallic surface adjacent to quantum coherence (phaseonium) medium[15] composed of three-level quantum emitters (semiconductor quantum dots, atoms, rare-earth ions, molecules, etc.) embedded in a dielectric host as shown in Fig.1. Three-level systems experience Fano-type interference in their absorption profile that generates an asymmetry between absorption and stimulated emission. Here we apply this asymmetry to mitigate the SPPs absorption, thus reducing the radiative damping of SPPs. It is worth mentioning here that such asymmetry may lead to lasing without inversion(LWI) [16]. We demonstrate that propagation of: Schematic of the quantum coherence assisted propagation of surface plasmon polariton on a metallic waveguide adjacent to quantum coherence (phaseonium) medium composed of three-level emitters (semiconductor quantum dots, atoms, rare-earth ions, molecules, etc.) embedded in a dielectric host. The gain medium is incoherently pumped (optical or electrical) at a rate g to the upper level |c which can decay to levels |a and |b . We select the three-level emitter such that the |a ↔ |b transition is resonantly coupled (near-field dipole-coupling) to the plasmon mode of the metal surface and the emission from ...

Metasurface-Enabled Remote Quantum Interference

“…A quantum emitter, in the vicinity of a metallic interface [15], can strongly interfere with its own spontaneously emitted photon, after reflecting from the surface and display intriguing interference effects [16][17][18]. For instance, one can design and construct an interface, near which, a quantum emitter displays orientation dependent decay rate which is a manifestation of AQV [19].…”

Coherence-Driven Topological Transition in Quantum Metamaterials

“…In principle, the approach presented here can be extended to the 2D and and 3D optical lattices. Implementation of the DDR physics is both attractive and versatile, not limited to real atoms, molecules but recently extended to meta-atoms [57]. We anticipate our approach may bridge the gap between artificial crystals of ultracold atoms and metamaterials, and open the door for harnessing atomic lattice based quantum metamaterial at single-or few-photonlevel for quantum sensing, quantum information processing, and quantum simulations.…”

Controlling laser spectra in a phaseonium photonic crystal using maser

“…The presence of gain in active structures has been used to compensate for absorption loss, promoting the practical use of quantum coherence in metamaterials and photonic crystals to a wider domain. Such ideas have given the birth of novel devices like nanolaser [44][45][46] and recently coherence effects have also been reported [19,20] in such configurations. Incorporating microwave along with laser in such devices can bring additional degree of freedom for enhancing the gain and controlling resonances.…”

“…Such systems can exhibit quantum coherence and interference effects, e.g., enhanced nonlinear effects [1], electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) [2][3][4], giant Kerr nonlinearity [5][6][7], lasing without inversion [8][9][10], efficient nonlinear frequency conversions [11,12], coherence Raman scattering enhancement via maximum coherence in atoms [13] and molecules [14], enhanced lasing [15,16], coherent Raman umklappscattering [17], photodesorption [18] to name a few. Recently quantum coherence effects has been applied to a new domain on plasmonics and shown to benefit nanophotonics [19,20].…”