Plasmonic nanogaps for broadband and large spontaneous emission rate enhancement

We present the optical properties of a plasmonic nanogap formed between a silver metallic nanoparticle and an extended silver film that shows a strong enhancement in the spontaneous emission rate over the whole visible range. In particular, we use three-dimensional finite difference time domain calculations to study the spontaneous emission rate and the quantum efficiency of an emitting material placed within the gap region as a function of the geometrical parameters of the plasmonic nanogap. Our calculations reveal that the enhancements in the total decay rate can be divided into two regions as a function of wavelength; region I spans the wavelength range from 350 nm to 500 nm and peaks at approximately at 400 nm. Region II covers the spectral range between 500 nm and 1000 nm. The enhancements in total decay rate in region I are mainly dominated by Ohmic losses by the metal, while the enhancements in total decay rate in region II are mainly dominated by radiative decay rate enhancements. Furthermore, our calculations show over 100 times enhancement in the spontaneous emission rate in region II. We combine this with quantum efficiency enhancements of almost 30 times from materials with low intrinsic quantum efficiencies and only a small reduction in efficiency from those with high intrinsic quantum efficiencies. All results appear easily achievable using realistic geometrical parameters and simple synthesis techniques. These results are attributed to the strong field confinements in the nanogap region. The structures are of high interest for both the fundamental understanding of light mater interactions under extreme electromagnetic field confinements and also potential applications in quantum optics and Raman spectroscopy. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.