# Method of images applied to driven solid-state emitters

## TL;DR

This paper extends the method of images to driven solid-state emitters, accounting for exciton-phonon interactions, enabling better modeling of photon collection efficiency near metallic surfaces.

## Contribution

It introduces an extended image approach with a polaron master equation for driven solid-state emitters, incorporating exciton-phonon effects.

## Key findings

- Agreement between polaron master equation and cavity formulation
- Enhanced modeling of emitter dynamics near metallic surfaces
- Facilitates study of multiple emitters in quantum photonics

## Abstract

Increasing the collection efficiency from solid-state emitters is an important step towards achieving robust single photon sources, as well as optically connecting different nodes of quantum hardware. A metallic substrate may be the most basic method of improving the collection of photons from quantum dots, with predicted collection efficiency increases of up to 50%. The established 'method-of-images' approach models the effects of a reflective surface for atomic and molecular emitters by replacing the metal surface with a second fictitious emitter which ensures appropriate electromagnetic boundary conditions. Here, we extend the approach to the case of driven solid-state emitters, where exciton-phonon interactions play a key role in determining the optical properties of the system. We derive an intuitive polaron master equation and demonstrate its agreement with the complementary half-sided cavity formulation of the same problem. Our extended image approach offers a straightforward route towards studying the dynamics of multiple solid-state emitters near a metallic surface.