title: Strong coupling in the sub-wavelength limit using metamaterial nanocavities.
abstract: The interaction between cavity modes and optical transitions leads to new coupled light-matter states in which the energy is periodically exchanged between the matter states and the optical mode. Here we present experimental evidence of optical strong coupling between modes of individual sub-wavelength metamaterial nanocavities and engineered optical transitions in semiconductor heterostructures. We show that this behaviour is generic by extending the results from the mid-infrared (~10 μm) to the near-infrared (~1.5 μm). Using mid-infrared structures, we demonstrate that the light-matter coupling occurs at the single resonator level and with extremely small interaction volumes. We calculate a mode volume of 4.9 × 10(-4) (λ/n)(3) from which we infer that only ~2,400 electrons per resonator participate in this energy exchange process.
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA [2] Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campione
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Montaño
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Klem
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Allerman
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wendt
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Capolino
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brener