arXiv subjects

Bart van Dam

Publications and source records attributed to Bart van Dam.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Nano-resolved sensing of 3D electromagnetic fields via single emitters' extreme variation of enhanced spontaneous emission

Controlling quantum light-matter interactions at scales smaller than the diffraction limit at the single quantum emitter level is a critical challenge to the goal of advancing quantum technologies. We introduce a novel material platform that enables precise engineering of spontaneous emission changes in molecular single emitters through 3D nanofields. This platform is based on a 3D hollow plasmonic nanomaterial arranged in a square lattice, uniformly scalable to the centimeter scale while maintaining unit cell geometry. This coupled system leads to billions of Purcell-enhanced single emitters integrated into a nanodevice. Using far-field single-molecule super-resolution microscopy, we investigate emission modifications at the single-emitter level, enabling molecular position sensing with resolution surpassing the diffraction limit. By combining the nanolocalization with time correlation single photon counting, we probe molecule per molecule enhanced quantum light-matter interactions. This 3D plasmonic geometry significantly enhances light-matter interactions, revealing a broad range of lifetimes -- from nanoseconds to picoseconds -- significantly increasing the local density of states in a manner that depends on both molecular position and dipole orientation, offering extreme position sensitivity within the 3D electromagnetic landscape. By leveraging these plasmonic nanostructures and our method for measuring single-molecule Purcell-enhanced nano-resolved maps, we enable fine-tuned control of light-matter interactions. This approach enables the on-demand control of fast single-photon sources at room temperature, providing a powerful tool for molecular sensing and quantum applications at the single-emitter level.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

On a critical artifact in the quantum yield methodology

For the development and optimization of novel light emitting materials, such as fluorescent proteins, dyes and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), a reliable and robust analysis of the emission efficiency is crucial. The emission efficiency is typically quantified by the photoluminescence quantum yield (QY), defined by the ratio of emitted to absorbed photons. We show that this methodology suffers from a flaw that leads to underestimated QY values, presenting as a 'parasitic absorption'. This effect has not been described and/or corrected for in literature and is present already under common experimental conditions, therefore, it is highly relevant for a number of published studies. To correct for this effect, we propose a modification to the methodology and a correction procedure.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Limits of emission quantum yield determination

The development of new fluorescent molecules and dyes requires precise determination of their emission efficiency, which ultimately defines the potential of the developed materials. For this, the photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) is commonly used, given by the ratio of the number of emitted and absorbed photons, where the latter can be determined by subtraction of the transmitted signal by the sample and by a blank reference. In this work, we show that when the measurement uncertainty is larger than 10% of the absorptance of the sample, the QY distribution function becomes skewed, which can result in underestimated QY values by more than 200%. We demonstrate this effect in great detail by simulation of the QY methodology that implements an integrating sphere, which is widely used commercially and for research. Based on our simulations, we show that this effect arises from the non-linear propagation of the measurement uncertainties. The observed effect applies to the measurement of any variable defined as Z=X/Y, with Y=U-V, where X, U and V are random, normally distributed parameters. For this general case, we derive the analytical expression and quantify the range in which the effect can be avoided.

physics.ins-det↗