Gold, copper, silver and aluminum nanoantennas to enhance spontaneous emission

TL;DR

This study analyzes how spheroidal nanoantennas made of various metals can enhance spontaneous emission across UV to near-IR spectra by examining their decay rates, resonances, and efficiencies.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of gold, copper, silver, and aluminum nanoantennas, highlighting their spectral tuning capabilities for emission enhancement.

Findings

Copper performs similarly to gold in enhancement effects.

Silver and aluminum show distinct resonance and efficiency behaviors.

Nanoantennas can be optimized for different spectral ranges from UV to near-IR.

Abstract

We compute the decay rates of emitters coupled to spheroidal nanoantennas made of gold, copper, silver, and aluminum. The spectral position of the localized surface plasmon-polariton resonance, the enhancement factors and the quantum efficiency are investigated as a function of the aspect ratio, background index and the metal composing the nanoantenna. While copper yields results similar to gold, silver and aluminum exhibit different performances. Our results show that with a careful choice of the parameters these nanoantennas can enhance emitters ranging from the UV to the near-IR spectrum.