Enhanced Super-Radiance in Epsilon-Near-Zero Plasmonic Channels

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that embedding quantum emitters in epsilon-near-zero plasmonic channels can drastically enhance super-radiance and spontaneous emission, with potential applications in sensing and low-threshold lasers.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to significantly boost super-radiance using ENZ environments at plasmonic waveguide cut-off, combining Purcell and Dicke effects.

Findings

Enhanced spontaneous emission in ENZ channels

Extended spatial range of superradiance effects

Potential for improved optical sensing and lasing

Abstract

We describe the possibility of drastically boosting the spontaneous emission of a collection of two-level quantum emitters by embedding them in an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) environment, consisting of a plasmonic waveguide operated at cut-off. This phenomenon relies on the combination of Purcell enhancement and Dicke superradiance effects, exploiting the large and uniform local density of states in ENZ channels, which is shown to significantly extend the spatial extent of these quantum effects. We envision exciting applications in optical sensing, molecular detection and low-threshold lasing.