Corner Reflector Plasmonic Nanoantennas for Enhanced Single-Photon Emission

Abstract

The emission rate of atom-like photon sources can be significantly improved by coupling them to plasmonic resonant nanostructures. These arrangements function as nanoantennas, serving the dual purpose of enhancing light--matter interactions and decoupling the emitted photons. However, there is a contradiction between the requirements for these two tasks. A small resonator volume is necessary for maximizing interaction efficiency, while a large antenna mode volume is essential to achieve high emission directivity. In this work, we analyze a hybrid structure composed of a noble metal plasmonic resonant nanoparticle coupled to the atom-like emitter, which is designed to enhance the emission rate, alongside a corner reflector aimed at optimizing the angular distribution of the emitted photons. A comprehensive numerical study of silver and gold corner reflector nanoantennas, employing the finite difference time domain method, is presented. The results demonstrate that a well-designed corner reflector can significantly enhance photon emission directivity while also substantially boosting the emission rate.