Mikkel Have Eriksen - Quantum Nonlinear Nano-optics in Hybrid Polaritonic Systems

Title: Quantum Nonlinear Nano-optics in Hybrid Polaritonic Systems

Speaker: Mikkel Have Eriksen, Center for Polariton-driven Light-Matter Interactions (POLIMA), University of Southern Denmark

Abstract:
Light-matter interactions in hybrid nanostructures consisting of atoms and nanostructures supporting polaritonic resonances have emerged as the building blocks in applications within sensing, quantum communication and computation. This talk will primarily investigate light-matter interactions with polaritonic nanostructures such as metallic nanostructures and two-dimensional nanostructures in the form of isotropic and gyrotropic graphene. Nonlocal and quantum mechanical phenomena in noble metal nanostructures become increasingly crucial when the relevant length scales in hybrid nanostructures reach the few-nanometer regime. Here we show that employing the surface-response functions to model such phenomena, nonlocal and quantum mechanical corrections can dramatically influence quantum electrodynamic phenomena – such as the Purcell enhancement and Lamb shift – for quantum light emitters close to a diverse range of noble metal nanostructures interfacing different homogeneous media.

Going to the two-dimensional limit and considering a driven atom close to a graphene sheet, we show that this system exhibits bistability and electro-optical hysteresis loops in the population dynamics of the atom within a semi-classical formalism. The bistability may be observed in phenomena such as the total far field radiation power and resonance fluorescence of the light scattered by the atom. We then consider positioning a quantum emitter close to gyrotropic graphene. Here, we see that the Shubnikov-de-Haas oscillations present in the optical response of magneto-optical graphene is reflected in the Purcell enhancement factor of quantum emitters close to a graphene sheet with an incident static magnetic field. Considering quantum emitters close to nanostructured magnetooptical graphene, we find large chiral light-matter interactions in the quasistatic regime, which is of interest as waveguides in quantum networks.

Lastly, we investigate plane wave illumination of magneto-optical nanostructured graphene. We find a semi-analytical formalism to consider the magneto-optical response of graphene nanodisks at large temperatures and propose a novel polariton in the form of thermal magnetoplasmons in such systems. We then propose to use such magneto-optical graphene disks in a Salisbury screen to achieve a chiral perfect absorber and a chiral thermal emitter.