title: Ultrafast spontaneous emission source using plasmonic nanoantennas.
abstract: Typical emitters such as molecules, quantum dots and semiconductor quantum wells have slow spontaneous emission with lifetimes of 1-10 ns, creating a mismatch with high-speed nanoscale optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, single-photon sources and lasers. Here we experimentally demonstrate an ultrafast (<11 ps) yet efficient source of spontaneous emission, corresponding to an emission rate exceeding 90 GHz, using a hybrid structure of single plasmonic nanopatch antennas coupled to colloidal quantum dots. The antennas consist of silver nanocubes coupled to a gold film separated by a thin polymer spacer layer and colloidal core-shell quantum dots, a stable and technologically relevant emitter. We show an increase in the spontaneous emission rate of a factor of 880 and simultaneously a 2,300-fold enhancement in the total fluorescence intensity, which indicates a high radiative quantum efficiency of ∼50%. The nanopatch antenna geometry can be tuned from the visible to the near infrared, providing a promising approach for nanophotonics based on ultrafast spontaneous emission.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Thang B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Gleb M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Akselrod
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Argyropoulos
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Jiani
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [3] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [3] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Maiken H
authors.identifier: 0000000204877585
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Mikkelsen