Far-field Emission Research Articles

Experimental demonstration of mode selection in bridge-coupled metallo-dielectric nanolasers.

We experimentally demonstrate bridge-coupled metallo-dielectric nanolasers that can operate in the in-phase or out-of-phase locking modes at room temperature. By varying the length of the bridge, we show that the coupling coefficients can be realized in support of the stable operation of any of these two modes. Both coupled nanolaser designs have been fabricated and characterized for experimental validation. Their lasing behavior has been confirmed by the spectral evolution, light-in light-out characterizations, and emission linewidth narrowing. The operating mode is identified from the near-field and far-field emission pattern measurements. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of mode selection in bridge-coupled metallo-dielectric nanolasers, which can serve as building blocks in nanolaser arrays for applications in imaging, virtual reality devices, and lidars.

Spontaneous Emission Enhancement by a Rectangular-Aperture Optical Nanoantenna: An Intuitive Semi-Analytical Model of Surface Plasmon Polaritons

The spontaneous-emission enhancement effect of a single metallic rectangular-aperture optical nanoantenna on a SiO2 substrate was investigated theoretically. By considering the excitation and multiple scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in the aperture, an intuitive and comprehensive SPP model was established. The model can comprehensively predict the total spontaneous emission rate, the radiative emission rate and the angular distribution of the far-field emission of a point source in the aperture. Two phase-matching conditions are derived from the model for predicting the resonance and show that the spontaneous-emission enhancement by the antenna comes from the Fabry–Perot resonance of the SPP in the aperture. In addition, when scanning the position of the point source and the aperture length, the SPP model does not need to repeatedly solve the Maxwell’s equations, which shows a superior computational efficiency compared to the full-wave numerical method.

Optimization of optical waveguide antennas for directive emission of light

Optical traveling wave antennas offer unique opportunities to control and selectively guide light into a specific direction, which renders them excellent candidates for optical communication and sensing. These applications require state-of-the-art engineering to reach optimized functionalities such as high directivity and radiation efficiency, low sidelobe levels, broadband and tunable capabilities, and compact design. In this work, we report on the numerical optimization of the directivity of optical traveling wave antennas made from low-loss dielectric materials using full-wave numerical simulations in conjunction with the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The antennas are composed of a reflector and a director deposited on a glass substrate, and an emitter placed in the feed gap between them serves as an internal source of excitation. In particular, we analyze antennas with rectangular- and horn-shaped directors made of either hafnium dioxide or silicon. The optimized antennas produce highly directional emissions due to the presence of two dominant guided TE modes in the director in addition to leaky modes. These guided modes dominate the far-field emission pattern and govern the direction of the main lobe emission, which predominately originates from the end facet of the director. Our work also provides a comprehensive analysis of the modes, radiation patterns, parametric influences, and bandwidths of the antennas, which highlights their robust nature.

Monitoring and Optimisation of Ag Nanoparticle Spray-Coating on Textiles

An automatic lab-scaled spray-coating machine was used to deposit Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) on textile to create antibacterial fabric. The spray process was monitored for the dual purpose of (1) optimizing the process by maximizing silver deposition and minimizing fluid waste, thereby reducing suspension consumption and (2) assessing AgNPs release. Monitoring measurements were carried out at two locations: inside and outside the spray chamber (far field). We calculated the deposition efficiency (E), finding it to be enhanced by increasing the spray pressure from 1 to 1.5 bar, but to be lowered when the number of operating sprays was increased, demonstrating the multiple spray system to be less efficient than a single spray. Far-field AgNPs emission showed a particle concentration increase of less than 10% as compared to the background level. This finding suggests that under our experimental conditions, our spray-coating process is not a critical source of worker exposure.

On-chip unidirectional micro-nano-light sources based on multi-mode cesium lead halide perovskite nanowires

Unidirectional micro-nano-light sources have been widely applied in integrated photonics and optoelectronic devices. In this study, on-chip all-inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite nanowires are employed and excited as a bright light source to generate unidirectional light. Here, we directly image the angular emission patterns of perovskite nanowires by using fluorescence Fourier microscopy. The extinction ratio for the unidirectional emission is achieved up to 11 dB, and the detected minimum polar divergence angle reaches 8.6° in experiments. The emission direction also can be tuned flexibly within the range of 48° by changing the upper surrounding medium. Detailed calculations based on multi-mode expansion theory are used to reveal the inner physical mechanisms. Further analysis of the far-field emission patterns corresponds well with the experiment results. Our works investigating the perovskite nanowire light source emission from the perspective of Fourier space have potential applications in photon-detection and integrated photonics chips.

Direction-Adjustable Single-Mode Lasing via Self-Assembly 3D-Curved Microcavities for Gas Sensing.

Drop-based microcavity lasers emerged as a promising tool in modern physics investigation and chemical detection owing to their cost-effective fabrication, high luminescence, and sensitive molecule sensing. However, it is of great challenge to achieve highly directional emission along with high quality (Q) factors via traditional droplet self-assembly behavior of the gain medium on a planar substrate. In this work, a single-mode microcavity laser with directional far-field emission is first proposed via droplet self-assembly 3D-curved microcavities, and simultaneously, acetic acid (AcOH) gas sensing is realized. Trichromatic single-mode lasing in 3D-curved microcavities with distinct organic polymer droplets is constructed on silica fibers via a self-assembly procedure. By regulating the curvature of the substrate, mode selection and directional emission of the lasing action are realized. The measured Q-factor of the proposed anisotropic 3D-curved active microcavity is ∼20k. Furthermore, on account of the sensitive responsiveness of liquid organic polymers, single-mode laser sensors can be realized by measuring the shift of their lasing modes on exposure to organic vapor. Benefiting from chemical reaction with rhodamine 6G, the AcOH gas sensor displays a short response time. These results may open new insights into drop-based quasi-3D-anisotropic whispering-gallery-mode microcavities to improve the development of lab-in-a-droplet, ranging from a tuneable microcavity laser to a chemical gas sensor.

Improving the External Quantum Efficiency of High-Power GaN-Based Flip-Chip LEDs by Using Sidewall Composite Reflective Micro Structure.

For high-power applications, it is important to improve the light extraction efficiency and light output of the vertical direction of LEDs. Flip-chip LEDs (FCLEDs) with an Ag/SiO2/distributed Bragg reflector/SiO2 composite reflection micro structure (CRS) were fabricated. Compared with the normal Ag-based FCLEDs, the light output power of the CRS-FCLEDs was increased by 6.3% at an operational current of 1500 mA, with the corresponding external quantum efficiency improved by 6.0%. Further investigation proved that the CRS structure exhibited higher reflectance compared with the commonly used Ag-mirror reflective structure, which originates from the increased reflective area in the sidewall and partial area of the n-GaN contact orifices. It exhibited markedly smaller optical degradation and thus higher device reliability as compared to normal Ag-based FCLED. Moreover, the light emission intensity distributions and far-field angular light emission measurements show that the CRS-FCLED has a strengthened light output in the vertical direction, which shows great potential for applications in high-power fields, such as headlamps for automobiles.

Nonreciprocal thermal radiation of nanoparticles via spin-directional coupling with reciprocal surface modes

We demonstrate nonreciprocal far-field thermal emission and nonreciprocal near-field radiative heat transfer of Weyl semimetal nanoparticles when the circular thermal emission of the particles directionally couples with the spin of the surface modes supported by a reciprocal substrate. Our work can be applied to the development of nonreciprocal and directional thermal emitters and to the nanoscale routing of a radiative heat flux.

Toward applications of near-field radiative heat transfer with micro-hotplates

Bringing bodies close together at sub-micron distances can drastically enhance radiative heat transfer, leading to heat fluxes greater than the blackbody limit set by Stefan–Boltzmann law. This effect, known as near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT), has wide implications for thermal management in microsystems, as well as technological applications such as direct heat to electricity conversion in thermophotovoltaic cells. Here, we demonstrate NFRHT from microfabricated hotplates made by surface micromachining of hbox {SiO}_2/hbox {SiN} thin films deposited on a sacrificial amorphous Si layer. The sacrificial layer is dry etched to form wide membranes ({100},upmu hbox {m} times {100},upmu hbox {m}) separated from the substrate by nanometric distances. Nickel traces allow both resistive heating and temperature measurement on the micro-hotplates. We report on two samples with measured gaps of {610},hbox {nm} and {280},hbox {nm}. The membranes can be heated up to {250},^{circ }hbox {C} under vacuum with no mechanical damage. At {120},^{circ }hbox {C} we observed a 6.4-fold enhancement of radiative heat transfer compared to far-field emission for the smallest gap and a 3.5-fold enhancement for the larger gap. Furthermore, the measured transmitted power exhibits an exponential dependence with respect to gap size, a clear signature of NFRHT. Calculations of photon transmission probabilities indicate that the observed increase in heat transfer can be attributed to near-field coupling by surface phonon-polaritons supported by the hbox {SiO}_2 films. The fabrication process presented here, relying solely on well-established surface micromachining technology, is a key step toward integration of NFRHT in industrial applications.

Plasmonic Elliptical Nanohole Arrays for Chiral Absorption and Emission in the Near-Infrared and Visible Range

Chiral plasmonic nanostructures with tunable handedness-dependent absorption in the visible and infrared offer chiro-optical control at the nanoscale. Moreover, coupling them with emitting layers could lead to chiral nanosources, important for nanophotonic circuits. Here, we propose plasmonic elliptical nanohole arrays (ENHA) for circularly dependent near-infrared and visible emission. We first investigate broadband chiral behavior in an Au-ENHA embedded in glass by exciting it with plane waves. We then study the coupling of ENHA with a thin emitting layer embedded in glass; we focus on the emission wavelengths which provided high chirality in plane-wave simulations. Our novel simulation set-up monitors the chirality of the far-field emission by properly averaging a large set of homogeneously distributed, randomly oriented quantum sources. The intrinsic chirality of ENHA influences the circular polarization degree of the emitting layer. Finally, we study the emission dependence on the field distribution at the excitation wavelength. We demonstrate the chiral absorption and emission properties for Au-ENHA emitting in the near-infrared range, and for Ag-ENHA which is excited in green range and emits in the Lumogen Red range. The simple geometry of ENHA can be fabricated with low-cost nanosphere lithography and be covered with emission gel. We thus believe that this design can be of great importance for tunable chiral nanosources.

An Analytical Approach for the Estimation of the Far-Field Reduction Obtained by Placing Closed Conductor Loops in Proximity to a Chip

A recent study proposed a technique to mitigate the far-field emission and susceptibility of printed circuit boards (PCBs) with the use of a suspended metal loop. This article provides, with the help of the small-loop theory, a methodology to analytically predict and further estimate the electromagnetic field (EMF) distribution and level at very large distances from the emitting PCB (as is the case for CISPR radiated emission measurements up to 10 m test distances), where full-wave simulations and experiments are very challenging (if not impossible as a practical matter). The suitability of the methodology was assessed for various radiator size and frequency as well as the loop radius and configuration with respect to the emitting PCB. As proof-of-concept, full-wave simulations and measurements have been performed. The root-mean-squared error (RMSE) was considered as the measure of the accuracy between the analytical and full-wave numerical results. It has been demonstrated that, whatever the loop radius and/or position with respect to the radiating integrated circuit (IC), the proposed methodology can approximate the far-field EMFs with low RMSE values. Moreover, as far as the emitting IC is concerned, independently of its size and radiating frequency (except near the loop resonance), a good precision was achieved with the analytical model compared to the full-wave numerical analysis. Furthermore, the approach was found to be effective not only on-axis but also off-axis of the suspended conductor loop. Apart from the required computational power for full-wave simulations, thanks to the proposed methodology, it is possible to significantly reduce the huge difference in computational time for numerical ( $\gg$ 30 min, depending on the distance) and analytical ( $ few seconds, independently of distance) analyses.

Simultaneous high Q/V-ratio and optimized far-field emission pattern in diamond slot-bridge nanobeam cavity

We present a design for a slot-bridge nanobeam cavity that supports ultrahigh Q/V and optimized far-field emission pattern, and operates at the zero-phonon transition (637nm) of the nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond. The slot-bridge cavity is formed by introducing a diamond bridge at the center of the air region of a slotted cavity. As a result of the boundary condition on the parallel component of the electric field, the electric field in the bridge region is the same as that in the slot. This results in a further reduction of the mode volume. Optimized slot-bridge cavities with a calculated Q factor of 6×106 and mode volume of Veff=0.28(λ/n)3have been realized. In comparison to nanobeam cavities, the mode volume is reduced by a factor of 139. The far-field pattern of a slot-bridge cavity is optimized by using the band folding method and by adding small air-slot extensions to the two closest air-holes surrounding the cavity. A high Q of 9.8×105 and a small mode volume of Veff=0.011(λ/n)3 is realized for this design. Therefore, this type of cavities would allow for the realization of efficient single-photon sources. Our results are important for fundamental studies, like cavity quantum electrodynamics, as well as applications in quantum information processing based on diamond where high quality-factor and ultrasmall mode volume are required.

Dielectric travelling wave antennas for directional light emission.

We present a combined experimental and numerical study of the far-field emission properties of optical travelling wave antennas made from low-loss dielectric materials. The antennas considered here are composed of two simple building blocks, a director and a reflector, deposited on a glass substrate. Colloidal quantum dots placed in the feed gap between the two elements serve as internal light source. The emission profile of the antenna is mainly formed by the director while the reflector suppresses backward emission. Systematic studies of the director dimensions as well as variation of antenna material show that the effective refractive index of the director primarily governs the far-field emission pattern. Below cut off, i.e., if the director's effective refractive index is smaller than the refractive index of the substrate, the main lobe results from leaky wave emission along the director. In contrast, if the director supports a guided mode, the emission predominately originates from the end facet of the director.

Geometric control over surface plasmon polariton out-coupling pathways in metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions.

Metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions (MIM-TJs) can electrically excite surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) well below the diffraction limit. When inelastically tunneling electrons traverse the tunnel barrier under applied external voltage, a highly confined cavity mode (MIM-SPP) is excited, which further out-couples from the MIM-TJ to photons and single-interface SPPs via multiple pathways. In this work we control the out-coupling pathways of the MIM-SPP mode by engineering the geometry of the MIM-TJ. We fabricated MIM-TJs with tunneling directions oriented vertical or lateral with respect to the directly integrated plasmonic strip waveguides. With control over the tunneling direction, preferential out-coupling of the MIM-SPP mode to SPPs or photons is achieved. Based on the wavevector distribution of the single-interface SPPs or photons in the far-field emission intensity obtained from back focal plane (BFP) imaging, we estimate the out-coupling efficiency of the MIM-SPP mode to multiple out-coupling pathways. We show that in the vertical-MIM-TJs the MIM-SPP mode preferentially out-couples to single-interface SPPs along the strip waveguides while in the lateral-MIM-TJs photon out-coupling to the far-field is more efficient.

Birefringent whispering gallery cavities designed by linear transformation optics.

It was reported that whispering gallery cavities designed by conformal transformation optics can support high-Q resonant modes with emission directionality. Intrinsically, these cavities have gradient index profiles implementing conformal mappings in physical space. In this paper, using the linear coordinate transformation, we propose another design scheme of whispering gallery cavities with (piecewise-) homogeneous, anisotropic index profile. We numerically show that so-designed cavities are also able to support high-Q whispering gallery modes with directional far-field emission patterns. We verify such characteristics by using a phase space representation (called the Poincaré Husimi function) of the intracavity wave function.

Laser particles with omnidirectional emission for cell tracking

The ability to track individual cells in space over time is crucial to analyzing heterogeneous cell populations. Recently, microlaser particles have emerged as unique optical probes for massively multiplexed single-cell tagging. However, the microlaser far-field emission is inherently direction-dependent, which causes strong intensity fluctuations when the orientation of the particle varies randomly inside cells. Here, we demonstrate a general solution based on the incorporation of nanoscale light scatterers into microlasers. Two schemes are developed by introducing either boundary defects or a scattering layer into microdisk lasers. The resulting laser output is omnidirectional, with the minimum-to-maximum ratio of the angle-dependent intensity improving from 0.007 (−24 dB) to > 0.23 (−6 dB). After transfer into live cells in vitro, the omnidirectional laser particles within moving cells could be tracked continuously with high signal-to-noise ratios for 2 h, while conventional microlasers exhibited frequent signal loss causing tracking failure.

Unidirectional emission and nanoparticle detection in a deformed circular square resonator.

We propose a novel deformed square resonator which has four asymmetric circular sides. Photons leak out from specific points, depending on the interplay between stable islands and unstable manifolds in phase space. By carefully breaking the mirror reflection symmetry, optical modes with strong chirality approaching 1 and unidirectional emission can be achieved simultaneously. Upon binding of a nanoparticle, the far-field emission pattern of the deformed microcavity changes drastically. Due to the EP point of the degenerate mode pairs in the deformed cavity, chirality-based far-field detection of nanoparticles with ultra-small size can be realized.

Non-Planckian infrared emission from GaAs devices with electrons and lattice out-of-thermal-equilibrium

With the downscaled device size, electrons in semiconductor electronics are often electrically driven out-of-thermal-equilibrium with hosting lattices for their functionalities. The thereby electrothermal Joule heating to the lattices can be visualized directly by the noncontact infrared radiation thermometry with the hypothetic Planck distribution at a single characteristic temperature. We report here that the infrared emission spectrum from electrically biased GaAs devices deviates obviously from Planck distribution, due to the additional contribution from non-equilibrium hot electrons whose effective temperature reaches much higher than that of the lattice (Te>Tl). The evanescent infrared emission from these hot electrons is out-coupled by a near-field metamaterial grating and is hence made significant to the total far-field emission spectrum. Resonant emission peak has also been observed when the electron hotspots are managed to overlap spatially with the optical hotspots at the grating resonance. Our work opens a new direction to study nonequilibrium dynamics with (non-Planckian) infrared emission spectroscopy and provides important implications into the microscopic energy dissipation and heat management in nanoelectronics.

Bright Telecom-Wavelength Single Photons Based on a Tapered Nanobeam.

Telecom-wavelength single photons are essential components for long-distance quantum networks. However, bright and pure single photon sources at telecom wavelengths remain challenging to achieve. Here, we demonstrate a bright telecom-wavelength single photon source based on a tapered nanobeam containing InAs/InP quantum dots. The tapered nanobeam enables directional and Gaussian-like far-field emission of the quantum dots. As a result, using above-band excitation we obtain an end-to-end brightness of 4.1 ± 0.1% and first-lens brightness of 27.0 ± 0.1% at the ∼1300 nm wavelength. Furthermore, we adopt quasi-resonant excitation to reduce both multiphoton emission and decoherence from unwanted charge carriers. As a result, we achieve a coherence time of 523 ± 16 ps and postselected Hong-Ou-Mandel visibility of 0.91 ± 0.09 along with a comparable first-lens brightness of 21.0 ± 0.1%. These results represent a major step toward a practical fiber-based single photon source at telecom wavelengths for long-distance quantum networks.

Plasmonically Enhanced Thermal Radiation by Means of Surface Phonon Polaritons

Radiative heat transfer at the nanoscale has the potential to produce thermal emission with both spectral feature and intensity different from the bulk materials. Specifically, the idea of coupling the energy states of photons and phonons using surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) blurs the boundary between light and heat, opening a path to the manipulation of heat transfer through photonic engineering and breaking the classical limit established by Planck's law. SPhPs can generate a strong energy confinement effect near the surface; however, this effect is only valid within a narrow spectral regime, the so-called reststrahlen band. In this study, we employ a hybrid structure to broaden the effective energy regime for thermal emission by coupling SPhPs and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). We report remarkably enhanced thermal emission of a hybrid structure made of a ${\mathrm{Si}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ nanoribbon decorated with Au nanoparticles by a factor of 4 over that of a bare ${\mathrm{Si}\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ nanoribbon. We introduce an experimental technique to quantify the emissivity from the complex nanostructured surface using frequency-dependent heat-transfer measurement. Not only does it enable us to detect feeble emission from a single nanoemitter, but it also differentiates two distinct heat-conducting processes of conduction and radiation, simultaneously. Our work may offer insights to engineer far-field thermal emission using hybrid structures combining the surface plasma and phonon polaritons.