Luminescence on the horseshoe nanolaser

TL;DR

This paper investigates horseshoe-shaped silver nanoresonators in an active medium, modeling their operation as nanolasers driven by quantum-mechanical photon absorption, and predicts luminescence behavior and tunability.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum-mechanical model of plasmonic nanoresonators as nanolasers, highlighting the role of incoherent photon absorption and demonstrating tunability of the luminescence spectrum.

Findings

Identification of luminescence line and its evolution to laser spectrum.

Resonance tunability through size and shape variation.

Comparison with full quantum mechanical simulation confirms the model.

Abstract

We considered the set of the ordered split-ring silver resonators in the form of nanosize horseshoes arranged in a layer at the surface of the active dielectric medium. The size of the horseshoe resonator is much less than the wavelength of the incident light. The plasmon nanoresonator takes energy from the active medium and can operate as a nanolaser. We show that nanoscale laser pumping should be treated as a random external force because of the incoherent quantum-mechanical process of photon absorption in the active medium. The operation of the plasmonic nanoresonator immersed in the active medium is the response to the action of random force. We find luminescence line and predict its evolution to the laser spectrum when inversion of the active medium is increased to the threshold value. The resonance behavior of the horseshoe can be conveniently tuned by variation of its size and shape. Results are compared with the full quantum mechanical simulation.