Multiparticle scattering within plasmonic systems. Credit: LSU
Scholars have held for decades that the quantum statistical properties associated with bosons are preserved within plasmonic systems and will therefore not produce a different type of light.
This fast-growing field of research is focused on the quantum properties of light and how it interacts with matter at nanoscale levels. Experiments that have shown the possibility of keeping non-classical correlations between light-matter interactions through scattering of photons or plasmons have stimulated speculation that similar dynamics could underlie conservation of quantum fluctuations that determine the nature of light sources. Next-generation quantum devices could be possible by using nanoscale systems to create new forms of light. This could be a unique platform to explore new quantum phenomena.
Researchers from Louisiana State University, four universities collaborating with them and others published new findings in Nature Communications. They have demonstrated the potential of metallic nanostructures for producing different forms of light in their discovery of quantum plasmonics.
The paper "Observation of the Modification of Quantum Statistic of Plasmonic System" was written by collaborators from the University of Alabama, Huntsville, Tecnologico de Monterrey and Universidad Autnoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa. It shows that the multiparticle system's quantum statistics are not always preserved on plasmonic platforms. The paper also describes the first observation on modified quantum statistics.
LSU graduate student Mingyuan Hong and Chenglong You, a postdoctoral researcher at LSU, have shown that optical near fields can provide additional scattering paths which can induce complex multiparticle interactions.
You stated that "our findings reveal the possibility of multiparticle scattering to achieve exquisite control over quantum plasmonic system." This result will change an old paradigm in quantum plasmonics. The fundamental physics we discovered in our discovery will allow for a better understanding and control of quantum multiparticle system.
These new findings were the result of research conducted by LSU's Experimental Quantum Photonics Group. It was done in assistant Professor Omar Magaa Loaiza's Quantum Photonics Laboratory.
Hong stated that metallic nanostructures made in gold were engineered to produce different types of light. Hong said that the nanoscale platform uses dissipative near fields to control complex interactions in multi-body photon systems. This allows us to control the quantum fluctuations in multiphoton systems at will.
Multiple quantum technologies have huge implications from the possibility of engineering light with different properties.
Magaa Loaiza stated that "For instance, our platform allows the reduction of quantum fluctuations in multiphoton system to increase the sensitivity protocol for quantum sensing." "In our laboratory, we will use this extraordinary degree of control to create quantum simulations for light transport. This will allow us to design better, more efficient solar cells.
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More information: Chenglong You and al, Observational modification of quantum statistics in plasmonic system, Nature Communications (2021). Information from Nature Communications Chenglong You and colleagues, Observation on the modification of quantum stats of plasmonic system, (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25489-4
