Bistable optical response of nanoparticle heterodimer: Mechanism, phase diagram, and switching time

Abstract

We conduct a theoretical study of the bistable optical response of a nanoparticle heterodimer comprised of a closely spaced semiconductor quantum dot and metal nanoparticle. The bistable nature of the response results from the interplay between the quantum dot's optical nonlinearity and its self-action (feedback) originating from the presence of the metal nanoparticle. We show that the feedback is governed by a complex valued coupling parameter $G$. Both the real and imaginary parts of $G$ ($G_{\mathrm{R}}$ and $G_{\mathrm{I}}$) play an important role in the occurrence of bistability, which is manifested in an S-shaped dependence of the quantum dot excited state population on the intensity of the external field, and hysteresis of the population. From our calculations, we find that at $G_{\mathrm{R}}=0$, the critical value for bistability to occur is $G_{\mathrm{I}}=8\Gamma$, whereas at $G_{\mathrm{I}}=0$, the critical value of $G_{\mathrm{R}}=4\Gamma$, where $\Gamma$ is the polarization dephasing rate. Thus, there exist two different (limiting) mechanisms of bistability, depending on whether $G_{\mathrm{R}}$ is much larger or much smaller than $G_{\mathrm{I}}$. We also calculate the bistability phase diagram within the system's parameter space: spanned by $G_{\mathrm{R}}$, $G_{\mathrm{I}}$ and $\Delta$, the latter being the detuning between the driving frequency and the transition frequency of the quantum dot. Additionally, switching times from the lower stable branch to the upper one (and {\it vise versa}) are calculated as a function of the intensity of the driving field. We show that the conditions for bistability to occur can be realized, for example, for a heterodimer comprised of a closely spaced CdSe (or CdSe/ZnSe) quantum dot and a gold nanosphere.

9 pages, 6 figures

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• Coherent preparation of the biexciton state in a semiconductor quantum dot coupled to a metallic nanoparticle
• Optoelectronic control of atomic bistability with graphene
• Instabilities in the optical response of a semiconductor quantum dot - metal nanoparticle heterodimer: self - oscillations and chaos
• Efficient exciton generation in a semiconductor quantum dot-metal nanoparticle composite structure using conventional chirped pulses