Relaxation of a Quantum Emitter Resonantly Coupled to a Metal Nanoparticle

Abstract

Presence of a metal nanoparticle near a quantum dipole emitter, when a localized surface plasmon mode is excited via the resonant coupling with an excited quantum dipole, changes dramatically the relaxation dynamics: it is no longer described by an exponential decay but exhibits step-like behavior. The main physical consequence of this relaxation process is that the emission, being largely determined by the metal nanoparticle, comes out with a substantial delay. A large number of system parameters in our analytical description opens new possibilities for controlling quantum emitter dynamics.