Design of plasmonic nanoantennae for enhancing spontaneous emission

Abstract

We apply two- and three-dimensional numerical calculations to study optical nanoantennae made of two coupled gold nanostructures, enclosing a single emitter in their gap. We show that, using structures manufacturable with today's nanotechnology, it is possible to increase the radiative decay rate by three orders of magnitude while keeping a quantum efficiency larger than 80% in the near-infrared regime. We examine the competition between the radiative and nonradiative processes in the presence of the antennae as a function of wavelength and antenna geometry. Our results hold great promise for improving the quantum efficiency of poor emitters such as silicon nanocrystals or carbon nanotubes.