Hannover 2010 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 60: Photonics III

Q 60.7: Vortrag

Freitag, 12. März 2010, 12:00–12:15, F 128

Single-Photon Imaging and Efficient Far Field Coupling to Single Plasmons — •Robert Lettow, Philipp Kukura, Michele Celebrano, Mario Agio, Stephan Goetzinger, and Vahid Sandoghdar — Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and optETH, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

Coupling of light to a dipolar radiator is one of the most fundamental problems of light-matter interaction. Recent theoretical studies have predicted more than 80% extinction of a focused classical Gaussian beam by a single dipolar radiator [1]. In this talk, we show that single photons can be efficiently coupled to a dipole, realized by a single silver nanoparticle. As single photon sources we used dye molecules at cryogenic temperatures, which emit more than one million Fourier-limited photons per second [2, 3]. We used an interferometric technique in a confocal arrangement to image single silver nanoparticles excited by single photons both in transmission and reflection [4]. Since the scattered photons have been produced via an interaction with plasmons in the nanoparticle, our experimental arrangement provides an efficient way to excite and investigate single quantized plasmons. We discuss the prospects of our experimental arrangement for the efficient coupling of single photons to single molecules.

[1] G. Zumofen, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 180404 (2008) [2] R. Lettow, et al., Optics Express 15, 15842 (2007). [3] V. Ahtee, et al., J. Mod.Opt. 56, 161-166 (2009) [4] M. Celebrano, R. Lettow, P. Kukura, M. Agio S. Götzinger, V. Sandoghdar, submitted.