The light at the end of the tunnel: Nanophotonics with STM
Description
Light-matter interactions at the nanoscale show a very rich physical
phenomenology with potential for new and disruptive applications in
fields as diverse as quantum computation, catalysis or ultrasentive
biosensors. For example, when light is confined in nanometer-scale
gaps between two metal surfaces, and individual quantum emitters are
placed in the gap, the light and matter excitations can become
inextricably coupled, leading to very interesting effects such as
Rabi oscillations and splitting, which can be used to generate
entangled photons for quantum cryptography, or to promote specific
chemical reactions through the modification of molecular excited
states. In this context, luminescence excited by injection of a
tunnel current in the gap between the tip and the sample of a
Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM) is emerging as a promising
technique, enabling the characterization of the optical properties
of quantum emitters at solid surfaces even with submolecular
resolution. However, there is a notable lack of understanding of the
physical principles that control the luminescence produced by
tunnelling electrons, which is a severe drawback for this technique
to become relevant in the field of Nanophotonics.
In this seminar I will offer an introductory view of the interesting
new optical phenomena that appear in nanoscale systems, with
emphasis on those that have been explored by state-of-the-art STM
luminescence. I will show the enormous successes already achieved by
this technique, such as measuring Raman signals with intramolecular
resolution, or measuring the optical response of custom designed
systems built molecule by molecule; but I will also describe the
many intriguing mysteries that still remain controversial. I will
finish by describing our own recent efforts to unravel such
mysteries, including our realization of the role for
electronic-structure factors in plasmonic spectra, our measure of
the temperature dynamics induced by single-electron injection, or
our recent success to detect optical resonances in single molecules
adsorbed on metal surfaces.
Website: https://www.uam.es/Ciencias/Light/1446814764050.htm?language=es&pid=1446741889119&title=Seminario:%20%22The%20light%20at%20the%20end%20of%20the%20tunnel:%20Nanophotonics%20with%20STM%22
LINK (TEAMS): https://teams.microsoft.com/l/team/19%3a06c9091119dd4784a4f85b8f63072f04%40thread.tacv2/conversations?groupId=dbe208af-15b8-45e7-b965-eaa7c4833d33&tenantId=fc6602ef-8e88-4f1d-a206-e14a3bc19af2