Strong plasmonic enhancement of biexciton emission: controlled coupling of a single quantum dot to a gold nanocone antenna

Korenobu Matsuzaki (1) , Simon Vassant (1) , Hsuan-Wei Liu (1) , Anke Dutschke (2, 1) , Björn Hoffmann (1) , Xuewen Chen (1) , Silke Christiansen (3, 1) , Matthew R. Buck (4) , Jennifer A. Hollingsworth (4) , Stephan Götzinger (1) , Vahid Sandoghdar (1)

1 Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
2 Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH
3 HZB - Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH = Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy = Centre Helmholtz de Berlin pour les matériaux et l'énergie
4 Materials Physics and Applications Division

Multiexcitonic transitions and emission of several photons per excitation comprise a very attractive feature of semiconductor quantum dots for optoelectronics applications. However, these higher-order radiative processes are usually quenched in colloidal quantum dots by Auger and other nonradiative decay channels. To increase the multiexcitonic quantum efficiency, several groups have explored plasmonic enhancement, so far with moderate results. By controlled positioning of individual quantum dots in the near field of gold nanocone antennas, we enhance the radiative decay rates of monoexcitons and biexcitons by 109 and 100 folds at quantum efficiencies of 60 and 70%, respectively, in very good agreement with the outcome of numerical calculations. We discuss the implications of our work for future fundamental and applied research in nano-optics.

Mots clés: Lasers; LEDs and light sources; Nanophotonics and plasmonics; Single photons and quantum effects

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Korenobu Matsuzaki, Simon Vassant, Hsuan-Wei Liu, Anke Dutschke, Björn Hoffmann, et al.. Strong plasmonic enhancement of biexciton emission: controlled coupling of a single quantum dot to a gold nanocone antenna. Scientific Reports, 2017, 7, pp.42307. ⟨10.1038/srep42307⟩. ⟨cea-01485876⟩