Fluctuation-dissipation relations of a tunnel junction driven by a quantum circuit

Antenna surface plasmon emission by inelastic tunneling

Surface plasmons polaritons are mixed electronic and electromagnetic waves. They have become a workhorse of nanophotonics because plasmonic modes can be confined in space at the nanometer scale and in time at the 10 fs scale. However, in practice, plasmonic modes are often excited using diffraction-limited beams. In order to take full advantage of their potential for sensing and information technology, it is necessary to develop a microscale ultrafast electrical source of surface plasmons. Here, we report the design, fabrication and characterization of nanoantennas to emit surface plasmons by inelastic electron tunneling. The antenna controls the emission spectrum, the emission polarization, and enhances the emission efficiency by more than three orders of magnitude. We introduce a theoretical model of the antenna in good agreement with the results.

Tunneling time probed by quantum shot noise

In typical metallic tunnel junctions, the tunneling events occur on a femtosecond timescale. An estimation of this time requires current measurements at optical frequencies and remains challenging. However, it has been known for more than 40 years that as soon as the bias voltage exceeds one volt, the junction emits infrared radiation as an electrically driven optical antenna. We demonstrate here that the photon emission results from the fluctuations of the current inside the tunneling barrier. Photon detection is then equivalent to a measurement of the current fluctuations at optical frequencies, allowing to probe the tunneling time. Based on this idea, we perform optical spectroscopy and electronic current fluctuation measurements in the far from equilibrium regime. Our experimental data are in very good agreement with theoretical predictions based on the Landauer Büttiker scattering formalism. By combining the optics and the electronics, we directly estimate the so-called traversal time.

Scanning tunnelling microscope light emission: Finite temperature current noise and over cut-off emission

The spectral distribution of light emitted from a scanning tunnelling microscope junction not only bears its intrinsic plasmonic signature but is also imprinted with the characteristics of optical frequency fluc- tuations of the tunnel current. Experimental spectra from gold-gold tunnel junctions are presented that show a strong bias (V _b ) dependence, curiously with emission at energies higher than the quantum cut-off (eV _b ); a component that decays monotonically with increasing bias. The spectral evolution is explained by developing a theoretical model for the power spectral density of tunnel current fluctuations, incorporating finite temperature contribution through consideration of the quantum transport in the system. Notably, the observed decay of the over cut-off emission is found to be critically associated with, and well explained in terms of the variation in junction conductance with V _b . The investigation highlights the scope of plasmon-mediated light emission as a unique probe of high frequency fluctuations in electronic systems that are fundamental to the electrical generation and control of plasmons.

Universal Property of Quantum Measurements of Equilibrium Fluctuations and Violation of the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem

For macroscopic quantum systems, we study what is measured when equilibrium fluctuations of macrovariables are measured in an ideal way that mimics classical ideal measurements as closely as possible. We find that the symmetrized time correlation is always obtained for such measurements. As an important consequence, we show that the fluctuation-dissipation theorem is partially violated as a relation between observed quantities in macroscopic quantum systems even if measurements are made in such an ideal way.

Quantum Optics Theory of Electronic Noise in Coherent Conductors

We consider the electromagnetic field generated by a coherent conductor in which electron transport is described quantum mechanically. We obtain an input-output relation linking the quantum current in the conductor to the measured electromagnetic field. This allows us to compute the outcome of measurements on the field in terms of the statistical properties of the current. We moreover show how under ac bias the conductor acts as a tunable medium for the field, allowing for the generation of single- and two-mode squeezing through fermionic reservoir engineering. These results explain the recently observed squeezing using normal tunnel junctions [G. Gasse et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 136601 (2013); J.-C. Forgues et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 130403 (2015)].