Figure 1

(Color online) Schematic view of the system: a metallic (e.g., silver here) nanowire is embedded inside a GaN matrix and a (blue) QD (quantum dot) is placed on top of it. An evanescent electromagnetic wave couples the metallic wire and the QD. The exciton in the QD (presented by the two disks) can recombine, spontaneously emitting photons (green arrow) that produce surface plasmons on the wire (illustrated by the surface effect).Reuse & Permissions

Figure 2

(Color online) (a) Dispersion-relations $\text{Re}\left[{\omega }_n\right]$ vs $K_z$ of surface plasmons for the first few modes $\left(n=0,1,2,3\right)$. The units for the vertical and horizontal lines are $\Omega =\omega /{\omega }_p$ and $K=k_{z}c/{\omega }_p$. (b) The enlarged plot of the dispersion relations of (a) in the regime of small $k_z$. (c) Corresponding (Markovian) spontaneous emission (SE) rates into surface plasmons. As seen here, the SE rates are greatly enhanced at certain values of ${\omega }_0$. (d) Non-Markovian decay dynamics of QD excitons for $\delta =0.2\beta$ (black line), $0.4\beta$ (dotted line), and $0.8\beta$ (dashed line). When $\delta =0$, the red (gray) curve represents the result of the contribution from the $n=1$ mode.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 3

(Color online) A schematic diagram of a $p\text{−}i\text{−}n$ junction with a quantum dot (QD) evanescently coupled to surface plasmons in a nanowire.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 4

(Color online) (a) Noise spectrum as a function of $\omega$. Such as that in Fig. 2d, the value of ${\omega }_0$ here is chosen to be close to the local minimum of the $n=1$ mode. Here, ${\Gamma }_L$ and ${\Gamma }_R$ are set equal to $0.01\beta$ and $0.1\beta$, respectively. The solid (dashed) line represents the result for $\delta =-0.01\beta$ $\left(0.01\beta \right)$. (b) Density plot of the current-noise spectrum as functions of $\omega$ and detuning $\delta ={\omega }_0-{\omega }_{n,c}$, which are both in units of $\beta$, the decay rate of the QD in free space. As seen here, there are discontinuities along the lines $\delta =\pm \omega$, which is an indication of the band-edge effect. In the inset we show the same calculation using the numerical solution for the dispersion relation, not the quadratic approximation. This illustrates that the important features are all contained within the quadratic approximation.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 5

(Color online) (a) Proposed device for the observation of retardation effects via current noise. The two QDs are coupled to two separate nanowires. Meanwhile, the wires are evanescently coupled to a phase-matched dielectric waveguide. (b) Current noises of the double-dot device. The red (gray) and blue (dark gray) lines represent the results for ${\gamma }_{0}r/v=2\pi$ and $4\pi$, respectively. Recall that $r$ is the interdot separation. The black line is the result for the Markovian case. The most obvious feature for the non-Markovian effect is the oscillatory behavior [red (gray) and blue (dark gray) curves]. Inset: Noise spectra with [green (light gray) line] and without [black line] retardation effects when ${\gamma }_{0}r/v=1.9$.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 6

Dispersion relations for (a) the dilatational waves and (b) the flexural waves in a slab with width $w=130\text{nm}$. The insets are the corresponding magnified plots in the small $q_{\parallel }$ regime. As can be seen here, the dispersion relations of the confined phonons also exhibit the “band-edge” feature for certain values of $\omega$.Reuse & Permissions