Spontaneous emission (SE) of a Quantum emitter depends mainly on the transmission strength between the upper and lower energy levels as well as the Local Density of States (LDOS)^[1]. When a QD is placed in near a plasmon waveguide, LDOS of the QD is increased due to addition of the non-radiative decay and a plasmonic decay channel to free space emission^[2-4]. The slow velocity and dramatic concentration of the electric field of the plasmon can capture majority of the SE into guided plasmon mode (Г_pl ). This paper focused on studying the effect of waveguide height on the efficiency of coupling QD decay into plasmon mode using a numerical model based on finite elemental method (FEM). Symmetric gap waveguide considered in this paper support single mode and QD as a dipole emitter. 2D simulation models are done to find normalized Г_pl and 3D models are used to find probability of SE decaying into plasmon mode ( β) including all three decay channels. It is found out that changing gap height can increase QD-plasmon coupling, by up to a factor of 5 and optimally placed QD up to a factor of 8. To make the paper more realistic we briefly studied the effect of sharpness of the waveguide edge on SE emission into guided plasmon mode. Preliminary nano gap waveguide fabrication and testing are already underway. Authors expect to compare the theoretical results with experimental outcomes in the future.

Date Published: 17 August 2014
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 9163, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties XII, 91632E (17 August 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2060939

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9163:
Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties XII
Allan D. Boardman, Editor(s)