Angle-resolved polarimetry measurements of antenna-mediated fluorescence

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how Fourier polarimetry can be used to analyze the angular and polarization properties of fluorescence emitted by quantum emitters coupled to optical antennas, providing insights into antenna-emitter interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a method to characterize antenna-mediated fluorescence by measuring angle and polarization-resolved emission, revealing the effects of antenna properties and emitter anisotropy.

Findings

Estimated antenna-emitter coupling via degree of polarization

Analyzed the impact of emitter anisotropy on emission polarization

Provided new insights into bullseye and spiral antenna behavior

Abstract

Optical phase-array antennas can be used to control not only the angular distribution but also the polarization of fluorescence from quantum emitters. The emission pattern of the resulting system is determined by the properties of the antenna, the properties of the emitters and the strength of the antenna-emitter coupling. Here we show that Fourier polarimetry can be used to characterize these three contributions. To this end, we measured the angle and Stokes-parameter resolved emission of bullseye plasmon antennas as well as spiral antennas excited by an ensemble of emitters. We estimate the antenna-emitter coupling on basis of the degree of polarization, and determine the effect of anisotropy in the intrinsic emitter orientation on polarization of the resulting emission pattern. Our results not only provide new insights in the behavior of bullseye and spiral antennas, but also demonstrate the potential of Fourier polarimetry when characterizing antenna mediated fluorescence.