Single Photon Source from a Nanoantenna-Trapped Single Quantum Dot
Plasmonics can be used to enhance the emission properties of single quantum nano-objects and use them as bright ultrafast single photon sources. However, plasmonic trapping single quantum objects has remained highly challenging so far.
In a recent Nano Letters publication, we introduce a dedicated plasmonic nanoantenna design to trap single colloidal quantum dots and enhance their single photon emission. The nano-optical trapping automatically locates the quantum emitter at the nanoantenna hotspot where the emission enhancement is maximum.
Novelty and Impact:
- Enhanced single photon brightness is demonstrated from a trapped single quantum dot, together with strongly reduced blinking and accelerated lifetime. This provides a significant advance over previous reports lacking a clear demonstration of antibunching.
- Our novel nanoantenna design achieves the highest trap stiffness reported so far for individual quantum dots, allowing to reduce the trapping intensity and mitigate the thermal effects.
Preprint also freely available on ArXiv 2108.06508
/image%2F1383851%2F20210927%2Fob_28e566_figtocqd.jpg)