Plasmon-excitonic polaritons in superlattices

Abstract

A theory for propagation of polaritons in superlattices with resonant plasmon-exciton coupling is presented. A periodical superlattice consists of a finite number of cells with closely located a quantum well and a monolayer of metal nanoparticles. Under study is the spectrum of hybrid modes formed of the quasitwo- dimensional excitons of quantum wells and the dipole plasmons of metal particles. The problem of electrodynamics is solved by the method of Green’s functions with taking account of the resonant polarization of quantum wells and nanoparticles in a self-consistent approximation. The effective polarizability of spheroidal particles occupying a square lattice is calculated with taking into consideration the local-field effect of dipole plasmons of the layer and their images caused by the excitonic polarization of nearest quantum well. Optical reflection spectra of superlattices with GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells and silver particles are numerically analyzed. Special attention is paid to the superradiant regime originated in the Bragg diffraction of polaritons in superlattice. Superradiance is investigated separately for plasmons and excitons, and then for hybrid plasmonexcitonic polaritons. It is demonstrated that the broad spectrum of reflectance associated with plasmons depends on the number of cells in superlattice, and it has a narrow spectral dip in the range of plasmon-excitonic Rabi splitting.