In this presentation, we report direct evidence of the bosonic nature of SPPs in a scattering-based beamsplitter, in one of the most simple experiments of quantum optics - done using SPPs instead of photons propagating in air. A parametric down-conversion source is used to produce two indistinguishable photons, each of which is converted into a SPP on a metal-stripe waveguide and then made to interact through a semi-transparent Bragg mirror. In this plasmonic analog of the Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment, we measure a coincidence dip with a visibility of 72%, the signature that SPPs are bosons and that quantum interference is clearly involved.

Date Published: 17 August 2014
PDF: 1 pages
Proc. SPIE 9163, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties XII, 916322 (17 August 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2061003

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