Experimental Quantum Optics with Photonic Crystals: Nanoscopic emitters as probes in a structured dielectric environment

在这项提议中，我们想要开发光学镊子的潜力，作为一种工具，对耦合到光子晶体结构的活性粒子进行纳米操纵。在自制的光束扫描共聚焦显微镜上制作了一台光学镊子。作为活性粒子，我们使用包覆了半导体纳米晶的胶体粒子，这些粒子在近红外发射。粒子被困在接近光子晶体结构表面的溶液中，这将由我们的合作者提供。详细研究了与共振缺陷的耦合和发光性质的改变。这一建议的第二个更基本的研究主题将周期性介电结构的研究推广到任意但仍受控制的介电结构，如光子晶体。我们计划使用多个光镊子来捕获和操纵介电粒子。通过这种方式，可以创建由很少的可控成分组成的任意结构的介电环境。我们。计划研究这种结构的光学特性，以及它们对电磁场局部态密度的影响。与第一个研究主题类似，可以借助放置在这些结构中的纳米活性探针粒子来探索后者。

In this proposal we want to exploit the potential of an optical tweezer as a tool for nano-manipulation of active particles coupled to photonic crystal structures. An optical tweezer is created in a homemade beam-scan confocal microscope. As active particles we use colloidal particles coated with semiconductor nanocrystals which emit in the near-infrared. The particles are trapped in solution close to the surface of photonic crystal structures which will be provided by our collaborators. Coupling to resonant defects and modifications of the luminescence properties are studied in detail. A second more fundamental research topic of this proposal generalizes the investigation of periodic dielectric structures, such as photonic crystals, to arbitrary, but still controlled dielectric structures. We plan to use multiple optical tweezers to trap and manipulate dielectric particles. In this way an arbitrary strutured dielectric environment which consists of few well controllable constituents can be created. We. plan to study the optical properties of such structures, as well as their effect on the local density of states of the electromagnetic field. Similar as in the first research topic the latter can be explored with the help of nanoscopic active probe-particles placed inside these structures.