Surface plasmons (SPs) are coherent oscillations of conduction electrons on a metal surface excited by electromagnetic radiation at a metal -dielectric interface. The growing field of research on such light -metal interactions is known as ‘plasmonics’. 1-3 This branch of research has attracted much attention due to its potential applications in miniaturized optical devices, sensors, and photonic circuits as well as in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. 4-8

Nanostructured plasmonic sensors.

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems allow the study of a variety of fundamental quantum-optics phenomena, such as entanglement, quantum decoherence and the quantum–classical boundary. Such systems also provide test beds for quantum information science. Nearly all strongly coupled cavity QED experiments have used a single atom in a high-quality-factor (high-Q) cavity. Here we report the experimental realization of a strongly coupled system in the solid state: a single quantum dot embedded in the spacer of a nanocavity, showing vacuum-field Rabi splitting exceeding the decoherence linewidths of both the nanocavity and the quantum dot. This requires a small-volume cavity and an atomic-like two-level system. The photonic crystal slab nanocavity—which traps photons when a defect is introduced inside the two-dimensional photonic bandgap by leaving out one or more holes—has both high Q and small modal volume V, as required for strong light–matter interactions. The quantum dot has two discrete energy levels with a transition dipole moment much larger than that of an atom, and it is fixed in the nanocavity during growth.

Vacuum Rabi splitting with a single quantum dot in a photonic crystal nanocavity

Status and future outlook of III-V compound semiconductor visible-spectrum light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are presented. Light extraction techniques are reviewed and extraction efficiencies are quantified in the 60%+ (AlGaInP) and ~80% (InGaN) regimes for state-of-the-art devices. The phosphor-based white LED concept is reviewed and recent performance discussed, showing that high-power white LEDs now approach the 100-lm/W regime. Devices employing multiple phosphors for "warm" white color temperatures (~3000-4000 K) and high color rendering (CRI>80), which provide properties critical for many illumination applications, are discussed. Recent developments in chip design, packaging, and high current performance lead to very high luminance devices (~50 Mcd/m2 white at 1 A forward current in 1times1 mm2 chip) that are suitable for application to automotive forward lighting. A prognosis for future LED performance levels is considered given further improvements in internal quantum efficiency, which to date lag achievements in light extraction efficiency for InGaN LEDs

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Status and Future of High-Power Light-Emitting Diodes for Solid-State Lighting

This article reviews recent theoretical and experimental advances in the fundamental understanding and active control of quantum fluids of light in nonlinear optical systems. In the presence of effective photon-photon interactions induced by the optical nonlinearity of the medium, a many-photon system can behave collectively as a quantum fluid with a number of novel features stemming from its intrinsically nonequilibrium nature. A rich variety of recently observed photon hydrodynamical effects is presented, from the superfluid flow around a defect at low speeds, to the appearance of a Mach-Cherenkov cone in a supersonic flow, to the hydrodynamic formation of topological excitations such as quantized vortices and dark solitons at the surface of large impenetrable obstacles. While the review is mostly focused on a specific class of semiconductor systems that have been extensively studied in recent years (planar semiconductor microcavities in the strong light-matter coupling regime having cavity polaritons as elementary excitations), the very concept of quantum fluids of light applies to a broad spectrum of systems, ranging from bulk nonlinear crystals, to atomic clouds embedded in optical fibers and cavities, to photonic crystal cavities, to superconducting quantum circuits based on Josephson junctions. The conclusive part of the article is devoted to a review of the future perspectives in the direction of strongly correlated photon gases and of artificial gauge fields for photons. In particular, several mechanisms to obtain efficient photon blockade are presented, together with their application to the generation of novel quantum phases.

Quantum fluids of light

The scattering from metal nanoparticles near their localized plasmon resonance is a promising way of increasing the light absorption in thin-film solar cells. Enhancements in photocurrent have been observed for a wide range of semiconductors and solar cell configurations. We review experimental and theoretical progress that has been made in recent years, describe the basic mechanisms at work, and provide an outlook on future prospects in this area.

https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/10440/1045/1/Catchpole_Plasmonic2008.pdf

Plasmonic solar cells

Reference LOEQ-ARTICLE-1994-012doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.73.2043View record in Web of Science Record created on 2007-08-31, modified on 2017-12-17

Measurement of cavity-polariton dispersion curve from angle resolved photoluminescence experiments.

We present results of the optical characterization of silicon photonic crystal waveguides and microcavities that are completely buried in a silicon dioxide cladding and are fabricated by deep ultraviolet (UV) lithography. The advantages of buried waveguides and deep UV lithography are discussed. Transmission spectra and loss factors for photonic crystal waveguides, as well as quality factors for resonant microcavities, are obtained. The observed characteristics are in good agreement with three-dimensional simulations.

/pdf/characterization-of-buried-photonic-crystal-waveguides-and-58mtcj2b87.pdf

Characterization of buried photonic crystal waveguides and microcavities fabricated by deep ultraviolet lithography

Modification of dipole emission that is due to its optical environment is calculated for planar layered structures. The layers are optically described by standard matrix techniques, and the dipole is included by using additive source terms for the electric field that depend on dipole orientation and wave polarization. These source terms also allow coupling through evanescent waves. We emphasize the applicability of this method to cases in which the power distribution into various modes is affected: dipole emission into guided modes and emission distribution into the various modes of structures that contain multilayer reflectors, such as microcavities.

Method of source terms for dipole emission modification in modes of arbitrary planar structures

We study the effect of inhomogeneous broadening of the electronic state on vacuum-field Rabi splitting. The broadening has no effect on the size of the splitting and, in general, does not lead to an inhomogeneous broadening of the split states. From a spectroscopic point of view, these results have interesting consequences, since they allow the extraction of a homogeneous line in an inhomogeneously broadened system. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

Vacuum-field Rabi splitting in the presence of inhomogeneous broadening: resolution of a homogeneous linewidth in an inhomogeneously broadened system

Plasmonics can be used to enhance mid-infrared sources, sensors and detectors for applications such as chemical sensing, thermal imaging and heat scavenging. The challenge now is to integrate these technologies in cost-effective, compact and reliable platforms.

R. P. Stanley

Papers

Measurement of cavity-polariton dispersion curve from angle resolved photoluminescence experiments.

Characterization of buried photonic crystal waveguides and microcavities fabricated by deep ultraviolet lithography

Method of source terms for dipole emission modification in modes of arbitrary planar structures

Vacuum-field Rabi splitting in the presence of inhomogeneous broadening: resolution of a homogeneous linewidth in an inhomogeneously broadened system

Plasmonics in the mid-infrared