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Quantum Plasmonics and NanoOptics

Quantum Plasmonics & Nano-Optics aim at transposing at 2D the concepts of Quantum Optics by replacing a high-Q cavity mode by a plasmon polariton sustained by a metallic nanostructure or by a photonic mode in a dielectric nanocavity with appropriate geometry. Surface plasmon are longitudinal modes at the interface between a metal and a dielectric that allow for two-dimensional (2D) propagation and for high field confinement and enhancement in subwavelength volumes. On the other hand, dielectric nanostructures sustain photonic modes with similar confinement, enhancement and propagation properties. The quantum regime requires single elementary excitations and can be obtained by coupling one or several single photon emitters [1] to either plasmonic or photonic cavities. This single excitation realm can lead to intriguing regimes where antibunching, quantum interferences or entanglement could be observed in metallic or dielectric nanostructures. In the context of quantum technologies, it will open the door to the engineering of elementary quantum-plasmonic or nanophotonic building blocks for optical information transfer and processing.

Contact : aurelien.cuche[at]cemes.fr

 

 

Single photon source : colored centers (NV) in nanodiamond

 

Figure 1 : left – Photoluminescence confocal map of single nanodiamonds hosting NV- color centers. Right – Photoluminescence spectrum of the negatively-charged NV center (the antibunching curve shown in inset is extracted from reference [1]). © CEMES-CNRS

 

 

 Propagation and manipulation of single photon/plasmon at 2D

 

Figure 2 : Left - Schematic representation of a two-level quantum emitter electromagnetically coupled to a 2D hexagonal plasmonic cavity. Center - Emission spectrum of a nanodiamond hosting a single NV center positionned in the vicinity of a such hexagonal cavity made of cristalline gold (autocorrelation curve in inset). Right - Luminescence wide-field image of this single nanodiamond coupled to the hexagonal platelet (8 µm from the left extremity to the right one). This image shows the plasmon-mediated propagation of the signal. The results are extracted from reference [2]. (This work is a collaboration between the NeO and GNS groups at CEMES and ETH Zurich) © CEMES-CNRS

 

Figure 3 : (a) Scanning electron microscopy image of the hexagonal platelet after carving of a Bragg mirror by a focused ion beam (FIB). (b) Luminescence wide-field image of the single nanodiamond coupled to the hexagonal platelet after FIB reshaping. (c) Simulation of the system shown in (b) (Dyadic Green function formalism). The results are extracted from reference [2]. (This work is a collaboration between the NeO and GNS groups at CEMES and ETH Zurich) © CEMES-CNRS

 

 

Hyperspectral quantum NSOM

 

Figure 4 : left – Schematic representation of a scalar & quantum emitter grafted at the apex of a NSOM tip [3] and scanned above a 2D silver nano-cavity. Center – Simulation of the local optical density of states (LDOS) above a 900 nm cavity. Right – Comparison of the LDOS and the photoluminescence signal along a line above the structure, illustrated by the yellow arrow in the central image. The results are extracted from reference [4]. (This work is a collaboration between the Néel Institute, the ICB lab and the NeO and GNS groups at CEMES) © CEMES-CNRS

 

 

Control of single photon propagation in Silicon nanostructures

 

 Figure 5 : Top - Luminescence wide-field image of a single nanodiamond positioned at one extremity of a silicon nanowire with a length of 7 µm. The propagation of the single photons in the nanowire can be observed. The scanning electron microscopy image of the silicon nanowire is shown in inset. Bottom - Autocorrelation functions acquired either directly on the nanodiamond (in) or after propagation of the photons in the nanowire (out). These curves show a similar antibunching signature that reveals the quantum nature of this punctual light sourceResults are extracted from reference [5]. (This work is a collaboration between the LAAS, the ICB laboratory and the NeO group at CEMES) © CEMES-CNRS

 

 

Deterministic positioning of quantum emitters AFM nanoxerography

 

Figure 6 : Left – Two atomic force microscopy (AFM) images with different magnifications showing nanodiamonds deterministically positionned on a SOI substrate by AFM nanoxerography. Center - Photoluminescence confocal image of the nanodiamond shown in the left image. Right – Autocorrelation function with photon antibunching acquired on the same nanodiamond. Results are extracted from reference [6]). (This work is a collaboration between the NeO group at CEMES, the Nanotech group at LPCNO and the LAAS) © CEMES-CNRS

 

 

[1] Y. Sonnefraud et al., Opt. Lett. 33, 611 (2008).

[2] U. Kumar et al., Nanoscale 12, 13414 (2020).

[3] A. Cuche et al., Nanolett. 10, 4566 (2010).

[4] A. Cuche et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 121402(R) (2017).

[5] M. Humbert et al., en préparation (2020).

[6] M. Humbert et al., en préparation (2020).