OP: Coherence and Energy Transfer Processes in Lattice Plasmon Lasers

非技术描述：激光在蓝光光盘阅读器和超市条形码扫描仪等产品中无处不在。激光尺寸的缩小将使其能够用于令人兴奋的新应用，从超敏感的微型传感器到速度更快的计算机芯片，再到宽带无线网络。然而，理解纳米级激光如何工作和放大光仍然是一个挑战。这项工作旨在揭示纳米级激光器的基本工作原理，因为它们的物理结构与传统激光器有很大不同。光学和光子学是NSF和美国的一项主要倡议，该项目的更广泛影响集中在光和纳米光子学活动上。例如，通过撰写评论文章向公众介绍纳米光子学的想法，通过编辑角色为科学界服务，以及为当地高中学生和教师举办关于激光和其他光学现象的动手活动。最后，利用他们的编辑经验，项目负责人参加研讨会，重点关注发表和处理有争议的研究主题的伦理问题。技术描述：这个项目致力于对纳米级激光中相干和能量传递过程的实验和理论研究，其中金属纳米粒子阵列，其中表面等离子激元激发驱动有机染料的受激发射。到目前为止，对染料分子如何在纳米水平上影响粒子数反转和在宏观水平上影响激光只有一个粗略的理解。这项研究旨在利用晶格等离子激元作为模型光学反馈系统来解决纳米激光器中的这一知识缺口。与传统激光器不同，这里研究的腔结构中损耗的量化并不简单。这个项目提出了一种新的方法来理解晶格等离子体激元激光作用中的竞争能量传递过程，该过程基于相干性、腔尺寸和超快特性。电动力学与密度矩阵相结合的方法用来模拟这些激光器中的相干效应。

Nontechnical description: Lasers are ubiquitous in products such as readers for Blu-ray discs and bar-code scanners at supermarkets. Shrinking the size of lasers will enable their use in exciting new applications, from ultra-sensitive miniature sensors to faster computer chips to broadband wireless networks. However, understanding how nanoscale-sized lasers operate and amplify light remains a challenge. This work aims to uncover the fundamental operational principles of nanoscale lasers, given that their physical structure is significantly different from that of traditional lasers. Optics and photonics is a major NSF and US initiative, and broader impacts of this project focus on light and nano-photonics activities. Examples include introducing ideas in nano-photonics to the public by writing opinion pieces, serving the scientific community through editorial roles, and hosting hands-on activities on lasers and other optical phenomena for local high school students and teachers. Finally, drawing upon their editorial experience, the project leaders participate in workshops that focus on ethics in publishing and handling of controversial research topics.Technical description: This project addresses experimental and theoretical studies of the mechanisms of coherence and energy transfer processes in nanoscale lasers comprising arrays of metal nanoparticles, in which surface plasmon excitations drive stimulated emission in organic dyes. To date, only a cursory understanding of how dye molecules affect population inversion at the nanoscopic level and lasing at the macroscopic level exists. This research aims to address this knowledge gap in nano-lasers using lattice plasmons as a model optical feedback system. Unlike in conventional lasers, quantification of loss in the cavity structures studied here is not straightforward. This project addresses a new approach to understanding competing energy transfer processes in the lasing action of lattice plasmon lasers based on coherence, cavity size, and ultra-fast characteristics. Electrodynamics coupled to density matrix methods serve to model coherence effects in these lasers.