Hot-electron-induced light amplification

Kai Braun; Xiao Wang; Dai Zhang; Alfred J. Meixner

doi:10.1117/1.JPE.6.042506

18 August 2016 Hot-electron-induced light amplification

Kai Braun, Xiao Wang, Dai Zhang, Alfred J. Meixner

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Photonics for Energy, Vol. 6, Issue 4, 042506 (August 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JPE.6.042506

Abstract

Electromagnetic coupling between resonant plasmonic oscillations of two closely spaced noble metal particles can lead to a strongly enhanced optical near field in the cavity formed by the gap between the metal particles. However, discoveries in quantum plasmonics show that an upper limit is imposed to the field enhancement by the intrinsic nonlocality of the dielectric response of the metal and the tunneling of the coherently oscillating conduction electrons through the gap. Here, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate optical amplification by radiative relaxation of hot electrons in a tunneling junction of a scanning tunneling microscope forming an extremely small point light source. When electrons tunnel from the sample to the tip, holes are left behind. These can be repopulated by hot electrons induced by the laser-driven plasmon oscillation on the metal surfaces enclosing the cavity and lead to a much higher electron to photon conversion efficiency. The dynamics of this system can be described by rate equations similar to laser equations. They show that the repopulation process can be efficiently stimulated by the gap mode’s near field. Our results demonstrate how optical enhancement inside the plasmonic cavity can be further increased by a stronger localization via tunneling through molecules.

Citation Download Citation

Kai Braun, Xiao Wang, Dai Zhang, and Alfred J. Meixner "Hot-electron-induced light amplification," Journal of Photonics for Energy 6(4), 042506 (18 August 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JPE.6.042506

Published: 18 August 2016

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