Anomalous spectral scaling of light emission rates in low dimensional metallic nanostructures

TL;DR

This paper reveals that light emission rates in low-dimensional metallic nanostructures scale anomalously with frequency, enabling ultra-fast, nanoscale optical devices operating at longer wavelengths with enhanced light-matter interactions.

Contribution

It uncovers the anomalous spectral scaling of light emission in 2D plasmonic systems and its implications for ultrafast, nanoscale optical device development.

Findings

Light emission scales anomalously with frequency in 2D plasmonic systems.

Modulation bandwidths increase at lower carrier frequencies.

Potential for femtosecond response times at nanoscale and mid IR wavelengths.

Abstract

The strength of light emission near metallic nanostructures can scale anomalously with frequency and dimensionality. We find that light-matter interactions in plasmonic systems confined in two dimensions (e.g., near metal nanowires) strengthen with decreasing frequency owing to strong mode confinement away from the surface plasmon frequency. The anomalous scaling also applies to the modulation speed of plasmonic light sources, including lasers, with modulation bandwidths growing at lower carrier frequencies. This allows developing optical devices that exhibit simultaneously femto-second response times at the nano-meter scale, even at longer wavelengths into the mid IR, limited only by non-local effects and reversible light-matter coupling.