Quantum Optics in Nanostructures

Pump-Probe Optical Response and Four-Wave Mixing in a Zinc-Phthalocyanine-Metal Nanoparticle Hybrid System

We investigate theoretically the optical response of a zinc-phthalocyanine molecular quantum system near a gold spherical nanoparticle with a radius of 80 nm. The quantum system is irradiated by a strong pump and a weak probe coherent electromagnetic field. Using the density matrix methodology, we obtain analytical expressions for the absorption, dispersion, and the four-wave-mixing coefficients. The influence of the nanoparticle on the spontaneous decay rate of the quantum system, as well as on the external fields, are obtained by an electromagnetic Green's tensor method. The spectroscopic parameters of the molecule are also obtained by ab initio methods. For the studied optical spectra, we find that, below a critical distance between the molecule and the plasmonic nanoparticle, determined by the minimal value of the effective Rabi frequency, single-peaked spectra are observed. Above this critical distance, the spectra exhibit the characteristic Mollow-shaped profiles. The enhancement of the pump field detuning induces the shift of the sideband resonances away from the origin. Lastly, and most importantly, regardless of the value of the detuning, the optical response of the system is maximized for an intermediate value of the interparticle distance.

Efficient Biexciton State Preparation in a Semiconductor Quantum Dot Coupled to a Metal Nanoparticle with Linearly Chirped Gaussian Pulses

We consider a hybrid nanostructure composed of a semiconductor quantum dot placed near a spherical metallic nanoparticle, and study the effect of the nanoparticle on the population transferral from the ground to the biexciton state of the quantum dot, when using linearly chirped Gaussian pulses. For various values of the system parameters (biexciton energy shift, pulse area and chirp, interparticle distance), we calculate the final population of the biexciton state by performing numerical simulations of the non-linear density matrix equations which describe the coupled system, as well as its interaction with the applied electromagnetic field. We find that for relatively large values of the biexciton energy shift and not very small interparticle distances, the presence of the nanoparticle improves the biexciton state preparation, since it effectively increases the area of the applied pulse. For smaller biexciton energy shifts and smaller distances between the quantum dot and the nanoparticle, the performance is, in general, degraded. However, even in these cases we can still find ranges of parameter values where the population transfer to the biexciton state is accomplished with high fidelity, when using linearly chirped Gaussian pulses. We anticipate that our results may be exploited for the implementation of novel nanoscale photonic devices or future quantum technologies.

Observation of topological Anderson phase in laser-written quasi-periodic waveguide arrays

We report on the experimental observation of the topological Anderson phase in one-dimensional quasi-periodical waveguide arrays produced by femtosecond laser writing. The evanescently coupled waveguides are with alternating coupling constants, constructing photonic lattices analogous to the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Dynamic tuning of the interdimer hopping amplitudes of the waveguide array generates the quasi-periodic disorder of the coupling constants for the model. As light propagates in the corresponding photonic waveguides, it exhibits different modes depending on the magnitude of the disorder. The topological Anderson phase is observed as the disorder is sufficiently strong, which corresponds to the zero-energy mode in its spectrum. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical simulations, confirming the existence of the disorder-driven topological phase from a trivial band in the photonic lattice.