Transparency in nanophotonic quantum wires

Abstract

We have studied the quantum optics of a photonic quantum nanowire doped with an ensemble of three-level nanoparticles. The wire is made from two photonic crystals A and B. Crystal A is embedded within crystal B and acts as a photonic nanowire. It is considered that the conduction band of crystal A lies below that of crystal B. As a result, photons are confined in crystal A and are reflected from crystal B. The bound states of the confined photons are calculated using the transfer matrix method. It is found that the number of bound states in the wire depends on the size of the wire and the energy difference between the conduction band extrema of crystals A and B. The absorption coefficient of the system has also been calculated using the Schrödinger equation method. It is considered that the nanoparticles interact with the photonic bound states. Numerical simulations show that when one of the resonance energies lies near the bound state, the system becomes transparent. However, when the resonance energy lies away from the bound state the crystal reverts to an absorbing state. Similarly, when the radius of the dielectric spheres is changed the location of the transparency peak is shifted. This means that the present system can be switched between two states by changing the size of the wire and the transition energy. These findings can be used to make new types of optical devices.