Ultrafast dynamics of surface plasmon nanolasers with quantum coherence and external plasmonic feedback

Abstract

Spasers have been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed and promise to deliver new exciting nanophotonic and biomedical applications. Here we theoretically investigate ultrafast dynamical properties of spasers with external plasmonic feedback. We consider a spaser both as a nanoscale source and detector of plasmons which could be used to design novel nano-imaging and sensing techniques. We show that, as with conventional lasers, spasers are sensitive to external feedback. However, unlike the lasers, spasers have faster relaxation dynamics which could be used to develop new ultrasensitive near field imaging techniques. We investigate the dependence of spaser relaxation oscillations on feedback parameters and show that quantum coherence can be used to increase the sensitivity to feedback.