Quantum emitter in a plasmonic field: an orientation generalised model

Abstract

When a quantum emitter (QE) is placed in close proximity to a plasmonic metal nanoparticle (MNP) within an external optical field, a dipole-dipole coupling arises, resulting in a highly tunable hybrid nanosystem that surpasses the optical manipulation capabilities of the individual components. These hybrid systems enable the exploration and manipulation of optical fields at the intersection between classical and quantum phenomena. Theoretical models of this interaction have typically been limited to the extreme orientations, where the QE and plasmonic dipoles are polarised either along or perpendicular to the inter-particle axis, for analytical tractability. In this work, we generalise the semi-classical optical dipole-dipole interaction model for a two-level quantum emitter in a plasmonic field for arbitrary polarisation angles. We show that the total field experienced by the quantum emitter at intermediate angles does not necessarily align with the external input field and discuss the implications of varying the polarisation angle of the external input field.