ACTIVE NEC · Active Nanoantenna-Exciton-Complexes
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2013-03-01 → 2017-02-28
- EU contribution
- €100,000
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-CIG
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Results in brief
Active Nanoantenna-Exciton-Complexes
In this project, supported by the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant, we studied the use of nanoantennas that provide localized field enhancements to boost and control the interaction between light and excitons (electron-hole pairs in semiconductors). This interaction provides one of the most common routes for generation of functional optical and electro-optical devices including lasers, detectors, biological markers, solar cells, etc. To make these devices more efficient, smaller and faster, it is highly important to find new and improved ways to focus, control, and couple light to optically active materials. One promising way to achieve it is by utilizing extreme plasmonic field enhancements on optical nanoantennas. These field enhancements have a dramatic effect on light-matter interaction. The project objectives were to developing complexes that support hybrid exciton-localized-surface-plasmon-polaritons (XLSP) operating at the strong and ultrastrong coupling regimes and probe the associated physical phenomena, to utilize the ultrafast transient dynamics of XLSPs to create novel ultrafast all-optical switches for different uses including switchable transparencies, waveguide couplers and decouplers, to study stimulated scattering effects of XLSPs in optical nanoantenna traps, and to create complexes that support plasmon upconversion by a plasmon-enhanced triplet-triplet annihilation process. We were able to demonstrate that nanoantennas provide a promising means to increase the coupling between nanoscale excitonic samples and light. We showed how the coupling strength is proportional to the field enhancement provided by the nanoantennas. We have experimentally demonstrated how to use nanoantennas to locally launch strongly coupled light matter states and that CMOS compatible materials such as aluminium can be used for nanoantennas that supported strongly coupled states over the entire visible regime down to the ultraviolate regime. We have also shown that nanoantenas can also be used to generate states with specific polarizations and to control light emission from these states. We fabricated complexes that allow energy upconversion and started to study the effect of field enhancements on the upconversion process. We developed models to study propagating exciton polaritons and we have also recently studied the ultrafast photophysical dynamics of exciton-polaritons and observed dynamics on sub 1ps time scales. Finally as results from these studies we demonstrated that nanoatnenna complexes can be used to create new nonlinear optical materials and studied their collective nonlinear effects. These studies open the door to construct new optical and electro-optical devices based on hybrid light matter states. More details can be found in our group's website: www.eng.tau.ac.il/~tal/neolab
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The interaction between light and matter by creation of excitons (electron-hole pairs) provides one of the most common routes for generation of functional optical and electro-optical devices. These devices including lasers, detectors, biological markers, solar cells, etc., have great impact both on science, technology, and common wellbeing. In order to make better optical and electro-optical devices, i.e. more efficient, smaller and faster, it is highly important to find new and improved ways to focus, control, and couple light to optically active materials. One promising way to achieve it is by utilizing extreme plasmonic field enhancements on optical nanoantennas which have a dramatic effect on light-matter interaction. Here I propose to study experimentally and theoretically the use of advanced arrangements of optical nanoantennas that support extreme field enhancements to boost the interaction between light and excitons in nanoantenna-exciton-complexes (NECs). The first aim of this project is to use NECs to generate exciton-localized-surface-plasmon-polaritons (XLSP) operating at the strong and ultrastrong coupling regimes and to probe the intriguing associated physical phenomena. The second aim is to create novel ultrafast all-optical switches of XLSPs and to use them in different device applications. The third aim is to study for the first time stimulated scattering effects of XLSP and to demonstrate Bose-Einstein condensation of XLSPs in optical nanoantenna trap. The fourth aim is to combine the field of plasmonics with the emerging field of photon upconversion by sensitized triplet-triplet annihilation and to create NECs that support plasmon upconversion. This will lead to improvements of photon upconversion techniques and open door to new nanoscale energy converting devices. For the studies we will use advanced nanofabrication techniques and advanced experimental methods, including ultrafast probe beams, lifetime imaging techniques and near field nanoscopy.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY · Tel AvivCoordinatorIsrael
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union