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Coherent perfect absorption of a single photon in a metamaterial

Coherent perfect absorption of a single photon in a metamaterial
Coherent perfect absorption of a single photon in a metamaterial
We report on the first experimental verification of the coherent perfect absorption (CPA) process in a plasmonic metamaterial absorber using single photons from spontaneous parametric down conversion.
Many technologies, from photovoltaics to photocatalysis, depend on the absorption of light. Nanostructured "perfect absorber" metamaterials and textured surfaces have been developed to improve absorption and obtain full absorption of the impinging light. Recently, coherent perfect absorption (CPA) from a standing wave has been shown to deliver either nearly total absorption or full transmission of the incident light, depending on the mutual phase of incident beams.
Despite quite few classical verification of the CPA process in various systems, its quantum nature has not yet been explored. Here we devise a quantum version of the experiment: with a single photon entering the device at a time, we observe periodic oscillation in the output photon count rate as the phase shift between two input channels changes. The overall modulation was measured to be between 90% and 10%.
In conclusion, we demonstrated that coherent perfect absorption can be observed even with a single photon, which could be coupled with nearly 100% probability into a localized plasmon.
Vezzoli, S.
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Altuzarra, C.
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Roger, T.
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Valente, J.
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Bolduc, E.
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Heitz, J.
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Leach, J.
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Jeffers, J.
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Soci, C.
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Couteau, C.
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Zheludev, N.I.
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Faccio, D.
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Vezzoli, S.
400e8ba7-e7e8-4648-a9fe-26769bcc318a
Altuzarra, C.
8b2f2520-6ff7-4341-9c8c-66b7f7d30cd6
Roger, T.
ff361153-2c82-4f1a-a179-0081e77c104a
Valente, J.
b1d50ead-5c3d-4416-ad05-3beb1b373146
Bolduc, E.
22b09ee5-3d95-40ea-856d-6696af7673f9
Heitz, J.
876cc2d9-150a-4f92-afdb-6ea8bc1e2912
Leach, J.
8f3ffd67-e3c7-42ff-8cde-e99f35f73b29
Jeffers, J.
ae384249-eb97-46f3-97c7-c3606e63c8a0
Soci, C.
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Couteau, C.
ac182b95-f2a2-4ccc-a5e9-af8bbbb8df75
Zheludev, N.I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Faccio, D.
439c72fc-1a71-41c2-bc41-f610ab3ddfb5

Vezzoli, S., Altuzarra, C., Roger, T., Valente, J., Bolduc, E., Heitz, J., Leach, J., Jeffers, J., Soci, C., Couteau, C., Zheludev, N.I. and Faccio, D. (2015) Coherent perfect absorption of a single photon in a metamaterial. 8th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies (ICMAT 2015), Singapore. 27 Jun - 02 Jul 2015.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

We report on the first experimental verification of the coherent perfect absorption (CPA) process in a plasmonic metamaterial absorber using single photons from spontaneous parametric down conversion.
Many technologies, from photovoltaics to photocatalysis, depend on the absorption of light. Nanostructured "perfect absorber" metamaterials and textured surfaces have been developed to improve absorption and obtain full absorption of the impinging light. Recently, coherent perfect absorption (CPA) from a standing wave has been shown to deliver either nearly total absorption or full transmission of the incident light, depending on the mutual phase of incident beams.
Despite quite few classical verification of the CPA process in various systems, its quantum nature has not yet been explored. Here we devise a quantum version of the experiment: with a single photon entering the device at a time, we observe periodic oscillation in the output photon count rate as the phase shift between two input channels changes. The overall modulation was measured to be between 90% and 10%.
In conclusion, we demonstrated that coherent perfect absorption can be observed even with a single photon, which could be coupled with nearly 100% probability into a localized plasmon.

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More information

Published date: June 2015
Venue - Dates: 8th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies (ICMAT 2015), Singapore, 2015-06-27 - 2015-07-02
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 379783
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/379783
PURE UUID: f8288cb5-03b2-4e9d-ad3f-b41956c43415
ORCID for N.I. Zheludev: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1013-6636

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 30 Jul 2015 10:49
Last modified: 12 Dec 2021 02:45

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Contributors

Author: S. Vezzoli
Author: C. Altuzarra
Author: T. Roger
Author: J. Valente
Author: E. Bolduc
Author: J. Heitz
Author: J. Leach
Author: J. Jeffers
Author: C. Soci
Author: C. Couteau
Author: N.I. Zheludev ORCID iD
Author: D. Faccio

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