Antennas for light

September 20, 2023

Using lasers in singular polarisation states, it has been shown that it is possible to shape the emission of light in systems based on photon emitters coupled to silicon nano-antennas. This study provides a better understanding of light-matter interaction at these scales and opens the way to applications in the field of nanophotonics.

Nanophotonics (or nano-optics) is the study of the interaction of light with objects of dimensions much smaller than the wavelength, and one of its aims is to confine light to the nanometric scale in order to miniaturize optical components.

However, fabricating tiny light sources at this scale is a complex process, since photon emitters have to be positioned a few nanometers away around nanostructures acting as antennas. Their role, similar to that of a radio-frequency antenna, is to control and direct the emission of light.

This behavior is achieved by playing on the antenna’s optical resonances when excited by a laser beam of appropriately chosen wavelength. These resonances generate local enhancements of the optical near-field, implying stronger light emission from photon emitters placed at these locations.

The NeO group, in collaboration with other French scientific teams, has demonstrated that it is possible to shape the optical near-field map around the nanostructure, using a doughnut-shaped laser beam and heterogeneous polarizations (azimuthal and radial).

The hybrid device developed for this study consists of a doped with rare-earth ions (Eu3+), deposited on silicon rings of different dimensions, acting as nano-antennas. The light emitted by this system was mapped to establish very precise maps of light amplification. These correspon exactly to the optical near-field “hot spots” obtained by numerical simulations.

These studies on hybrid systems, combining photon emitters and silicon nanostructures, open up interesting prospects for the production of nanoscale light sources. Such sources could be integrated into electronic components, as their manufacturing technologies are fully compatible with existing ones (CMOS technology).

Publication:
Control of light emission of quantum emitters coupled to silicon nanoantenna using cylindrical vector beams
Martin Montagnac, Yoann Brûlé, Aurélien Cuche, Jean-Marie Poumirol, Sébastien J. Weber, Jonas Müller, Guilhem Larrieu, Vincent Larrey, Franck Fournel Olivier Boisron, Bruno Masenelli, Gérard Colas des Francs, Gonzague Agez & Vincent Paillard
Light: Science & Applications 12 (2023) 239
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-023-01229-9

Contacts:
Gonzague Agez | gonzague.agez[at]cemes.fr
Vincent Paillard | vincent.paillard[at]cemes.fr