Two-mode surface plasmon lasing in hexagonal arrays.

We demonstrate surface-plasmon lasing in hexagonal metal hole arrays with a semiconductor gain medium. The device can be tuned between two laser modes, with distinct wavelengths, spatial distributions, and polarization patterns, by changing the size of the optically pumped area. One of the modes exhibits a six-fold polarization pattern, while the mode observed for larger pump spots has a rotationally symmetric polarization pattern. We explain the mode tuning by the differences of in-plane and radiative out-of-plane losses of the modes. The spatial and polarization properties of the modes are conveniently described by a sum of vectorial orbital angular momentum beams with orbital, spin, and total angular momentum j=ℓ+s.

Observation of Four-Photon Orbital Angular Momentum Entanglement.

We demonstrate genuine multipartite quantum entanglement of four photons in their orbital angular momentum degrees of freedom, where a high-dimensional discrete Hilbert space is attached to each photon. This can encode more quantum information compared to the qubit case, but it is a long-standing problem to entangle more than two such photons. In our experiment we use pulsed spontaneous parametric down-conversion to produce the photon quadruplets, which allows us to detect about one four-photon event per second. By means of quantum state reconstruction and a suitable witness operator we find that the photon quadruplets form a genuine multipartite entangled symmetric Dicke state. This opens a new tool for addressing foundational questions in quantum mechanics, and for exploration of novel high-dimensional multiparty quantum information applications such as secret sharing.

Surface plasmon dispersion in hexagonal, honeycomb and kagome plasmonic crystals.

We present a systematic experimental study on the optical properties of plasmonic crystals (PlC) with hexagonal symmetry. We compare the dispersion and avoided crossings of surface plasmon modes around the Γ-point of Au-metal hole arrays with a hexagonal, honeycomb and kagome lattice. Symmetry arguments and group theory are used to label the six modes and understand their radiative and dispersive properties. Plasmon-plasmon interaction are accurately described by a coupled mode model, that contains effective scattering amplitudes of surface plasmons on a lattice of air holes under 60°, 120°, and 180°. We determine these rates in the experiment and find that they are dominated by the hole-density and not on the complexity of the unit-cell. Our analysis shows that the observed angle-dependent scattering can be explained by a single-hole model based on electric and magnetic dipoles.

Position-Dependent Local Detection Efficiency in a Nanowire Superconducting Single-Photon Detector.

We probe the local detection efficiency in a nanowire superconducting single-photon detector along the cross-section of the wire with a far subwavelength resolution. We experimentally find a strong variation in the local detection efficiency of the device. We demonstrate that this effect explains previously observed variations in NbN detector efficiency as a function of device geometry.

Experimental test of theories of the detection mechanism in a nanowire superconducting single photon detector.

We report an experimental test of the photodetection mechanism in a nanowire superconducting single photon detector. Detector tomography allows us to explore the 0.8-8 eV energy range via multiphoton excitations. High accuracy results enable a detailed comparison of the experimental data with theories for the mechanism of photon detection. We show that the temperature dependence of the efficiency of the superconducting single photon detector is determined not by the critical current but by the current associated with vortex unbinding. We find that both quasiparticle diffusion and vortices play a role in the detection event.

The role of spatial and temporal modes in pulsed parametric down-conversion.

We explore spatial correlations created by stimulated pair emission in frequency degenerate parametric down-conversion from a periodically poled KTP crystal pumped by ∼2 ps duration laser pulses. The ratio of stimulated pairs over spontaneous pairs reaches as high 0.8 in the experiment. This ratio is a direct measure of the total number of modes relevant to the down-conversion process. We identify a universal curve for this ratio that accounts for the effect of the focused pump, introducing a coherence diameter r(0) related to the diffraction limited size of the pump beam in the far-field. Measurements of the spatial correlations of the PDC light for longer crystals and tight focusing conditions show that the description given in terms of a universal curve is surprisingly robust and breaks down only for a laser beam focussed to a waist smaller than 40 µm in a 2 mm long PPKTP crystal.

Surface plasmon dispersion in metal hole array lasers.

We experimentally study surface plasmon lasing in a series of metal hole arrays on a gold-semiconductor interface. The sub-wavelength holes are arranged in square arrays of which we systematically vary the lattice constant and hole size. The semiconductor medium is optically pumped and operates at telecom wavelengths (λ ~ 1.5 µm). For all 9 studied arrays, we observe surface plasmon (SP) lasing close to normal incidence, where different lasers operate in different plasmonic bands and at different wavelengths. Angle- and frequency-resolved measurements of the spontaneous emission visualizes these bands over the relevant (ω, k||) range. The observed bands are accurately described by a simple coupled-wave model, which enables us to quantify the backwards and right-angle scattering of SPs at the holes in the metal film.

Modified detector tomography technique applied to a superconducting multiphoton nanodetector.

We present an experimental method to characterize multi-photon detectors with a small overall detection efficiency. We do this by separating the nonlinear action of the multiphoton detection event from linear losses in the detector. Such a characterization is a necessary step for quantum information protocols with single and multiphoton detectors and can provide quantitative information to understand the underlying physics of a given detector. This characterization is applied to a superconducting multiphoton nanodetector, consisting of an NbN nanowire with a bowtie-shaped subwavelength constriction. Depending on the bias current, this detector has regimes with single and multiphoton sensitivity. We present the first full experimental characterization of such a detector.

Transfer of photonic crystal membranes to a transparent gel substrate.

We report a method of transferring 150 nm thick Al(0.35)Ga(0.65)As photonic crystal slabs to a transparent gel, without compromising their optical properties. We demonstrate successful transfer for membranes as large as ~ 425 × 425 µm(2). The transfer results in a 2.5% frequency red shift and increases the visibility of the resonances in reflection spectra. The avoided crossings between the modes show a subradiant mode with quality factors up to ~300. This suggests that the quality factor is only limited by the finite size of the crystal.

Interpretation of Fano lineshape reversal in the reflectivity spectra of photonic crystal slabs.

Resonant coupling of light to leaky modes of a photonic crystal slab leads to asymmetric Fano lineshapes in the reflectivity spectra. The generally accepted picture, for a lossless system, is that the sign of the real-valued parameter q controls the asymmetry of a Fano resonance. For the reflectivity of a symmetric slab this situation occurs if the amplitude reflection coefficient of the slab goes through zero. In this article, we show that it is also possible to change the asymmetry of a resonance by angle tuning without reaching a condition of zero amplitude. Moreover, we show that the picture of a real-valued parameter q that controls the asymmetry is incomplete.

Enhanced coupling of plasmons in hole arrays with periodic dielectric antennas.

We compare the angle-dependent transmission spectra of a metal hole array with dielectric pillars in each hole with that of a conventional metal hole array. The pillars enhance the optical transmission as well as the interaction between surface plasmon modes. This results in an observed splitting Delta omega/omega as large as 6%, at normal incidence, for the modes on the pillar side of the array.

Asymmetry reversal in the reflection from a two-dimensional photonic crystal.

The measured, angle-dependent, reflection spectra of a two-dimensional GaAs photonic crystal consist of an asymmetric peak on top of an oscillating background. At large angles of incidence (>70 degrees), the asymmetry of the peak is observed to flip for p-polarized light. We explain the observed spectra with a Fano model that includes loss and interference between a resonant waveguide component and direct Fresnel reflection of the layered structure. We show that the reversal of the asymmetry of the line is due to a change in sign of the direct reflection at Brewster's angle.