Chapter 5
Coherent Nonlinear Processes
in Metal-Semiconductor Hybrid
Nanostructures
Parinda Vasa
Abstract Metal nanostructures supporting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), confined electromagnetic field modes at the metal-dielectric interface have been shown to
posses significant potential for guiding and manipulating light on the nanoscale. The
interaction between these localized electromagnetic fields with the emitters in close
proximity has led to the emerging and exciting field of active plasmonics. Recent
advances in nanotechnology have enabled fabrication of high quality semiconductor and metal nanostructures, in which several aspects of light-matter interactions,
particularly those in coherent and nonlinear regimes have been demonstrated and
studied extensively. This article presents discussion on experimental demonstration
of some of the coherent nonlinear effects in metal-semiconductor hybrid nanostructures. Studies have demonstrated that these hybrid nanostructures may open up exciting possibilities in realizing novel all-optical, ultrafast nanoscopic devices, nanoscale
lasers, quantum information processing and, single-molecule sensing applications.
5.1 Introduction
Coherence is a property that describes the phase correlation between physical quantities associated with a single or multiple waves. Since quantum mechanics associates
wave properties with matter, it has become a very important concept in quantum
physics and energy transfer processes [1–3]. Coherence is at the core of interference
phenomena and is essential in forming wavepackets. Though the simplest manifestation of interference is the addition of two waves generating constructive (bright) or
destructive (dark) interference fringes, interference between wavepackets in quantum
systems give rise to intriguing and complex physical effects. In case of incoherent
addition of light waves, the final result is a sum of intensities in which all information
related to relative phases is lost [1, 2].
P. Vasa (B)
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: parinda@iitb.ac.in
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
K. Yamanouchi and D. Charalambidis (eds.), Progress in Ultrafast
Intense Laser Science XV, Topics in Applied Physics 136,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47098-2_5
101
Coherent Nonlinear Processes
in Metal-Semiconductor Hybrid
Nanostructures
Parinda Vasa
Abstract Metal nanostructures supporting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), confined electromagnetic field modes at the metal-dielectric interface have been shown to
posses significant potential for guiding and manipulating light on the nanoscale. The
interaction between these localized electromagnetic fields with the emitters in close
proximity has led to the emerging and exciting field of active plasmonics. Recent
advances in nanotechnology have enabled fabrication of high quality semiconductor and metal nanostructures, in which several aspects of light-matter interactions,
particularly those in coherent and nonlinear regimes have been demonstrated and
studied extensively. This article presents discussion on experimental demonstration
of some of the coherent nonlinear effects in metal-semiconductor hybrid nanostructures. Studies have demonstrated that these hybrid nanostructures may open up exciting possibilities in realizing novel all-optical, ultrafast nanoscopic devices, nanoscale
lasers, quantum information processing and, single-molecule sensing applications.
5.1 Introduction
Coherence is a property that describes the phase correlation between physical quantities associated with a single or multiple waves. Since quantum mechanics associates
wave properties with matter, it has become a very important concept in quantum
physics and energy transfer processes [1–3]. Coherence is at the core of interference
phenomena and is essential in forming wavepackets. Though the simplest manifestation of interference is the addition of two waves generating constructive (bright) or
destructive (dark) interference fringes, interference between wavepackets in quantum
systems give rise to intriguing and complex physical effects. In case of incoherent
addition of light waves, the final result is a sum of intensities in which all information
related to relative phases is lost [1, 2].
P. Vasa (B)
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: parinda@iitb.ac.in
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
K. Yamanouchi and D. Charalambidis (eds.), Progress in Ultrafast
Intense Laser Science XV, Topics in Applied Physics 136,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47098-2_5
101