Enhanced light–matter interaction in a hybrid photonic–plasmonic cavity

Abstract

Strongly concentrated optical fields around a metal nanoparticle in the close vicinity of a dipole noticeably facilitate dramatic changes in the localized density of states due to hybrid photonic–plasmonic mode couplings as compared to that of the pure cavity mode fields. Significant variations of the field intensity in the presence of the metal nanoparticle elucidate enhanced light–matter interaction in a hybrid structure. The enhancement factor of the light–matter interaction is studied through the single-atom cooperativity parameter, which is directly proportional to the ratio of the fluorescence lifetimes of the off-resonant and on-resonant emission. A compact and cost-effective hybrid device, which includes a microfiber cavity, supporting whispering gallery modes, and a well-defined solid nanostructure, consisting of a gold nanoparticle core, overcoated by a silica shell, and decorated with CdS/CdSe quantum dots, is demonstrated to offer an outstanding potential for the enhancement of light–matter interaction. Surface plasmons of a gold nanoparticle, placed inside a hollow cylindrical nanostructure at the surface of a microfiber, are activated upon excitation of the dipoles of the quantum emitters, which are on-resonance with the whispering gallery mode. Time-resolved experiments demonstrate that the single-atom cooperativity parameter of the quantum dots is enhanced by a factor of about 4.8 in the presence of the gold nanoparticle being simultaneously in strong interaction with the cavity mode field and the metal nanoparticle’s surface plasmons.