Excitation of surface plasmons at a SiO2/Ag interface by silicon quantum dots: Experiment and theory

The excitation of surface plasmons (SPs) by optically excited silicon quantum dots (QDs) located near a Ag interface is studied both experimentally and theoretically for different QD-interface separations. The Si QDs are formed in the near-surface region of an SiO2 substrate by Si ion implantation and thermal annealing. Photoluminescence decay-rate distributions, as derived from an inverse Laplace transform of the measured decay trace, are determined for samples with and without a Ag cover layer. For the smallest, investigated Si-QDs-to-interface distance of 44 nm the average decay rate at lambda=750 nm is enhanced by 80% due to the proximity of the Ag-glass interface, with respect to an air-glass interface. Calculations based on a classical dipole oscillator model show that the observed decay rate enhancement is mainly due to the excitation of surface plasmons that are on the SiO2/Ag interface. By comparing the model calculations to the experimental data, it is determined that Si QDs have a very high internal emission quantum efficiency of (77±17)%. At this distance they can excite surface plasmons at a rate of (1.1±0.2)×104 s¿1. From the model it is also predicted that by using thin metal films the excitation of surface plasmons by Si QDs can be further enhanced. Si QDs are found to preferentially excite symmetric thin-film surface plasmons

Purcell factor enhanced scattering efficiency in silicon nanocrystal doped micro-cavities

Scattering induced by nano-particles in a microcavity is investigated for the case of silicon nanocrystal doped microtoroids and a significant enhancement of scattering into the originally doubly-degenerate cavity eigenmodes is found, exceeding >99.42%

Ultralow-threshold erbium-implanted toroidal microlaser on silicon

We present an erbium-doped microlaser on silicon operating at a wavelength of 1.5 mum that operates at a launched pump threshold as low as 4.5 muW. The 40 mum diameter toroidal microresonator is made using a combination of erbium ion implantation, photolithography, wet and dry etching, and laser annealing, using a thermally grown SiO2 film on a Si substrate as a starting material. The microlaser, doped with an average Er concentration of 2x10^(19) cm(-3), is pumped at 1480 nm using an evanescently coupled tapered optical fiber. Cavity quality factors as high as 3.9x10^(7) are achieved, corresponding to a modal loss of 0.007 dB/cm, and single-mode lasing is observed

Purcell factor enhanced scattering efficiency in optical microcavities

Scattering processes in an optical microcavity are investigated for the case of silicon nanocrystals embedded in an ultra-high Q toroid microcavity. Using a novel measurement technique based on the observable mode-splitting, we demonstrate that light scattering is highly preferential: more than 99.8% of the scattered photon flux is scattered into the original doubly-degenerate cavity modes. The large capture efficiency is attributed to an increased scattering rate into the cavity mode, due to the enhancement of the optical density of states over the free space value and has the same origin as the Purcell effect in spontaneous emission. The experimentally determined Purcell factor amounts to 883

Demonstration of an erbium doped microdisk laser on a silicon chip

An erbium doped micro-laser is demonstrated utilizing $\mathrm{SiO_{2}}$ microdisk resonators on a silicon chip. Passive microdisk resonators exhibit whispering gallery type (WGM) modes with intrinsic optical quality factors of up to $6\times{10^{7}}$ and were doped with trivalent erbium ions (peak concentration $\mathrm{\sim3.8\times{10^{20}cm^{-3})}}$ using MeV ion implantation. Coupling to the fundamental WGM of the microdisk resonator was achieved by using a tapered optical fiber. Upon pumping of the $^{4}I_{15/2}\longrightarrow$ $^{4}I_{13/2}$ erbium transition at 1450 nm, a gradual transition from spontaneous to stimulated emission was observed in the 1550 nm band. Analysis of the pump-output power relation yielded a pump threshold of 43 $\mathrm{\mu}$W and allowed measuring the spontaneous emission coupling factor: $\beta\approx1\times10^{-3}$

Fabrication and characterization of erbium-doped toroidal microcavity lasers

Erbium-doped SiO2 toroidal microcavity lasers are fabricated on a Si substrate using a combination of optical lithography, etching, Er ion implantation, and CO2 laser reflow. Erbium is either preimplanted in the SiO2 base material or postimplanted into a fully fabricated microtoroid. Three-dimensional infrared confocal photoluminescence spectroscopy imaging is used to determine the spatial distribution of optically active Er ions in the two types of microtoroids, and distinct differences are found. Microprobe Rutherford backscattering spectrometry indicates that no macroscopic Er diffusion occurs during the laser reflow for preimplanted microtoroids. From the measured Er doping profiles and calculated optical mode distributions the overlap factor between the Er distribution and mode profile is calculated: Gamma=0.066 and Gamma=0.02 for postimplanted and preimplanted microtoroids, respectively. Single and multimode lasing around 1.5 µm is observed for both types of microtoroids, with the lowest lasing threshold (4.5 µW) observed for the preimplanted microtoroids, which possess the smallest mode volume. When excited in the proper geometry, a clear mode spectrum is observed superimposed on the Er spontaneous emission spectrum. This result indicates the coupling of Er ions to cavity modes

Photoluminescence quantum efficiency of dense silicon nanocrystal ensembles in SiO2

The photoluminescence decay characteristics of silicon nanocrystals in dense ensembles fabricated by ion implantation into silicon dioxide are observed to vary in proportion to the calculated local density of optical states. A comparison of the experimental 1/e photoluminescence decay rates to the expected spontaneous emission rate modification yields values for the internal quantum efficiency and the intrinsic radiative decay rate of silicon nanocrystals. A photoluminescence quantum efficiency as high as 59%±9% is found for nanocrystals emitting at 750 nm at low excitation power. A power dependent nonradiative decay mechanism reduces the quantum efficiency at high pump intensity

Size-dependent oxygen-related electronic states in silicon nanocrystals

Silicon nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 were isolated with a selective etching procedure, and the isolated nanocrystals' excitonic emission energy was studied during controlled oxidation. Nanocrystals having initial diameters, d(0), of similar to 2.9-3.4 nm showed a photoluminescence (PL) blueshift upon oxidatively induced size reduction, as expected from models of quantum confinement. Oxidation of smaller Si nanocrystals (d(0)similar to 2.5-2.8 nm) also initially resulted in a PL blueshift, but a redshift in the PL was then observed after growth of similar to 0.3 monolayers of native oxide. This decrease in excitonic emission energy during oxidation is consistent with the theoretically predicted formation of an oxygen-related excitonic recombination state

Planar metal plasmon waveguides: frequency-dependent dispersion, propagation, localization, and loss beyond the free electron model

A numerical analysis of surface plasmon dispersion, propagation, and localization on smooth lossy films is presented. Particular attention is given to determining wavelength-dependent behavior of thin Ag slab waveguides embedded in a symmetric SiO2 environment. Rather than considering Ag as a damped free electron gas, the metal is defined by the experimentally determined optical constants of Johnson and Christy and Palik. As in free electron gas models, analytic dispersion results indicate a splitting of plasmon modes—corresponding to symmetric and antisymmetric field distributions—as film thickness is decreased below 50 nm. However, unlike free electron gas models, the surface plasmon wave vector remains finite at resonance with the antisymmetric-field plasmon converging to a pure photon mode for very thin films. In addition, allowed excitation modes are found to exist between the bound and radiative branches of the dispersion curve. The propagation characteristics of all modes are determined, and for thin films (depending upon electric field symmetry), propagation distances range from microns to centimeters in the near infrared. Propagation distances are correlated with both the field decay (skin depth) and energy density distribution in the metal and surrounding dielectric. While the energy density of most long-range surface plasmons exhibits a broad spatial extent with limited confinement in the waveguide, it is found that high-field confinement does not necessarily limit propagation. In fact, enhanced propagation is observed for silver films at ultraviolet wavelengths despite strong field localization in the metal. The surface plasmon characteristics described in this paper provide a numerical springboard for engineering nanoscale metal plasmon waveguides, and the results may provide a new avenue for integrated optoelectronic applications

Highly confined electromagnetic fields in arrays of strongly coupled Ag nanoparticles

Linear arrays of very small Ag nanoparticles (diameter ~10 nm, spacing 0–4 nm) were fabricated in sodalime glass using an ion irradiation technique. Optical extinction spectroscopy of the arrays reveals a large polarization-dependent splitting of the collective plasmon extinction band. Depending on the preparation condition, a redshift of the longitudinal resonance as large as 1.5 eV is observed. Simulations of the three-dimensional electromagnetic field evolution are used to determine the resonance energy of idealized nanoparticle arrays with different interparticle spacings and array lengths. Using these data, the experimentally observed redshift is attributed to collective plasmon coupling in touching particles and/or in long arrays of strongly coupled particles. The simulations also indicate that for closely coupled nanoparticles (1–2 nm spacing) the electromagnetic field is concentrated in nanoscale regions (10 dB radius: 3 nm) between the particles, with a 5000-fold local field intensity enhancement. In arrays of 1-nm-spaced particles the dipolar particle interaction extends to over 10 particles, while for larger spacing the interaction length decreases. Spatial images of the local field distribution in 12-particle arrays of touching particles reveal a particlelike coupled mode with a resonance at 1.8 eV and a wirelike mode at 0.4 eV