Entangled light from bimodal optical nanoantennas

TL;DR

This paper proposes a hybrid plasmonic nanoantenna device that generates entangled photon modes through incoherent pumping, turning losses into a beneficial feature for quantum light emission.

Contribution

It introduces a novel bimodal nanoantenna design that produces entangled light via incoherent processes, demonstrating robustness against geometric imperfections.

Findings

High emission rate of entangled photons

Entanglement degree insensitive to nanoantenna imperfections

Losses are exploited to enable entanglement

Abstract

We suggest a hybrid plasmonic device consisting of a bimodal metallic nanoantenna coupled to an incoherently pumped quantum emitter. This hybrid device emits light into the two modes entangled in the number of photons. The process is a prime example where losses are turned from a nuisance into something beneficial, since, even though counterintuitively, the entanglement is enabled by strong incoherent processes, i.e. dominant scattering and absorption rates of the nanoantenna. Both, the high emission rate and the degree of entanglement of the emitted light are insensitive with respect to imperfections in the nanoantenna geometry, rendering the scheme feasible for an implementation.