arXiv subjects

Charles A. Downing

Publications and source records attributed to Charles A. Downing.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

High Efficiency Storage of Quasi-Classical and Quantum States in Coupled Resonators

We propose an optical model in which both quantum and quasi-classical states can be ideally stored using coupled resonators. The protocol is based on a time-dependent coupling between two cavities, carefully modulated to allow the complete transfer of an external propagating field from one cavity to another. The system maintains high storage efficiency (above $99.99\%$) even when error sources are introduced (up to $5\%$) in the coupling, such as amplitude deviation or a time delay between field propagation and coupling control. Furthermore, this procedure can be extended to store entangled states by considering either a pair of systems or bimodal cavities. Due to its high efficiency, this model may find application in current quantum technologies, such as quantum memories and quantum batteries, which rely on efficient quantum state storage.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Tunable chiral anomalies and coherent transport on a honeycomb lattice

The search for energy efficient materials is urged not only by the needs of modern electronics but also by emerging applications in neuromorphic computing and artificial intelligence. Currently, there exist two mechanisms for achieving dissipationless transport: superconductivity and the quantum Hall effect. Here we reveal that dissipationless transport is theoretically achievable on a honeycomb lattice by rational design of chiral anomalies tunable without any magnetic fields. Breaking the usual assumption of commensurability and applying an external electric field lead to electronic modes exhibiting chiral anomalies capable of dissipationless transport in the material bulk, rather than on the edge. As the electric field increases, the system reaches a cubic-like dispersion material phase. While providing performance comparable to other known honeycomb lattice-based ballistic conductors such as an armchair nanotube, zigzag nanoribbon and hypothetical cumulenic carbyne, this scheme provides routes to a strongly correlated localization due to flat band dispersion and to exotic cubic dispersion material featuring a pitchfork bifurcation and a critical slowing down phenomena. These results open a new research avenue for the design of energy efficient information processing and higher-order dispersion materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Plasmonic modes in cylindrical nanoparticles and dimers

We present analytical expressions for the resonance frequencies of the plasmonic modes hosted in a cylindrical nanoparticle within the quasistatic approximation. Our theoretical model gives us access to both the longitudinally and transversally polarized dipolar modes for a metallic cylinder with an arbitrary aspect ratio, which allows us to capture the physics of both plasmonic nanodisks and nanowires. We also calculate quantum mechanical corrections to these resonance frequencies due to the spill-out effect, which is of relevance for cylinders with nanometric dimensions. We go on to consider the coupling of localized surface plasmons in a dimer of cylindrical nanoparticles, which leads to collective plasmonic excitations. We extend our theoretical formalism to construct an analytical model of the dimer, describing the evolution with the inter-nanoparticle separation of the resultant bright and dark collective modes. We comment on the renormalization of the coupled mode frequencies due to the spill-out effect, and discuss some methods of experimental detection.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Extreme renormalisations of dimer eigenmodes by strong light-matter coupling

We explore by theoretical means an extreme renormalisation of the eigenmodes of a dimer of dipolar meta-atoms due to strong light-matter interactions. Firstly, by tuning the height of an enclosing photonic cavity, we can lower the energy level of the symmetric `bright' mode underneath that of the anti-symmetric `dark' mode. This is possible due to the polaritonic nature of the symmetric mode, that shares simultaneously its excitation with the cavity and the dimer. For a heterogeneous dimer, we show that the polariton modes can be smoothly tuned from symmetric to anti-symmetric, resulting in a variable mode localisation from extended throughout the cavity to concentrated around the vicinity of the dimer. In addition, we reveal a critical point where one of the meta-atoms becomes `shrouded', with no response to a driving electric field, and thus the field re-radiated by the dimer is only that of the other meta-atom. We provide an exact analytical description of the system from first principles, as well as full-wave electromagnetic simulations that show a strong quantitative agreement with the analytical model. Our description is relevant for any physical dimer where dipolar interactions are the dominant mechanism.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Chiral current circulation and $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry in a trimer of oscillators

We present a simple quantum theory of a bosonic trimer in a triangular configuration, subject to gain and loss in an open quantum systems approach. Importantly, the coupling constants between each oscillator are augmented by complex arguments, which give rise to various asymmetries. In particular, one may tune the complex phases to induce chiral currents, including the special case of completely unidirectional (or one-way) circulation when certain conditions are met regarding the coherent and incoherent couplings. When our general theory is recast into a specific non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, we find interesting features in the trimer population dynamics close to the exceptional points between phases of broken and unbroken $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry. Our theoretical work provides perspectives for the experimental realization of chiral transport at the nanoscale in a variety of accessible nanophotonic and nanoplasmonic systems, and paves the way for the potential actualization of nonreciprocal devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Topological plasmons in dimerized chains of nanoparticles: robustness against long-range quasistatic interactions and retardation effects

We present a simple model of collective plasmons in a dimerized chain of spherical metallic nanoparticles, an elementary example of a topologically nontrivial nanoplasmonic system. Taking into account long-range quasistatic dipolar interactions throughout the chain, we provide an exact analytical expression for the full quasistatic bandstructure of the collective plasmons. An explicit calculation of the Zak phase proves the robustness of the topological physics of the system against the inclusion of long-range Coulomb interactions, despite the broken chiral symmetry. Using an open quantum systems approach, which includes retardation through the plasmon-photon coupling, we go on to analytically evaluate the resulting radiative frequency shifts of the plasmonic spectrum. The bright plasmonic bands experience size-dependent radiative shifts, while the dark bands are essentially unaffected by the light-matter coupling. Notably, the upper transverse-polarized band presents a logarithmic singularity where the quasistatic spectrum intersects the light cone. At wavevectors away from this intersection and for subwavelength nanoparticles, the plasmon-photon coupling only leads to a quantitative reconstruction of the bandstructure and the topologically-protected states at the edge of the first Brillouin zone are essentially unaffected.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Retardation effects on the dispersion and propagation of plasmons in metallic nanoparticle chains

We consider a chain of regularly-spaced spherical metallic nanoparticles, where each particle supports three degenerate localized surface plasmons. Due to the dipolar interaction between the nanoparticles, the localized plasmons couple to form extended collective modes. Using an open quantum system approach in which the collective plasmons are interacting with vacuum electromagnetic modes and which, importantly, readily incorporates retardation via the light-matter coupling, we analytically evaluate the resulting radiative frequency shifts of the plasmonic bandstructure. For subwavelength-sized nanoparticles, our analytical treatment provides an excellent quantitative agreement with the results stemming from laborious numerical calculations based on fully-retarded solutions to Maxwell's equations. Indeed, the explicit expressions for the plasmonic spectrum which we provide showcase how including retardation gives rise to a logarithmic singularity in the bandstructure of transverse-polarized plasmons. We further study the impact of retardation effects on the propagation of plasmonic excitations along the chain. While for the longitudinal modes, retardation has a negligible effect, we find that the retarded dipolar interaction can significantly modify the plasmon propagation in the case of transverse-polarized modes. Moreover, our results elucidate the analogy between radiative effects in nanoplasmonic systems and the cooperative Lamb shift in atomic physics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Radiative frequency shifts in nanoplasmonic dimers

We study the effect of the electromagnetic environment on the resonance frequency of plasmonic excitations in dimers of interacting metallic nanoparticles. The coupling between plasmons and vacuum electromagnetic fluctuations induces a shift in the resonance frequencies (analogous to the Lamb shift in atomic physics) which is usually not measurable in an isolated nanoparticle. In contrast, we show that this shift leads to sizable corrections to the level splitting induced by dipolar interactions in nanoparticle dimers. For the system parameters which we consider in this work, the ratio between the level splitting for the longitudinal and transverse hybridized modes takes a universal form dependent only on the interparticle distance and thus is highly insensitive to the precise fabrication details of the two nanoparticles. We discuss the possibility to successfully perform the proposed measurement using state-of-the-art nanoplasmonic architectures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Topological collective plasmons in bipartite chains of metallic nanoparticles

We study a bipartite linear chain constituted by spherical metallic nanoparticles, where each nanoparticle supports a localized surface plasmon. The near-field dipolar interaction between the localized surface plasmons gives rise to collective plasmons, which are extended over the whole nanoparticle array. We derive analytically the spectrum and the eigenstates of the collective plasmonic excitations. At the edge of the Brillouin zone, the spectrum is of a pseudorelativistic nature similar to that present in the electronic band structure of polyacetylene. We find the effective Dirac Hamiltonian for the collective plasmons and show that the corresponding spinor eigenstates represent one-dimensional Dirac-like massive bosonic excitations. Therefore, the plasmonic lattice exhibits similar effects to those found for electrons in one-dimensional Dirac materials, such as the ability for transmission with highly suppressed backscattering due to Klein tunneling. We also show that the system is governed by a nontrivial Zak phase, which predicts the manifestation of edge states in the chain. When two dimerized chains with different topological phases are connected, we find the appearance of the bosonic version of a Jackiw-Rebbi midgap state. We further investigate the radiative and nonradiative lifetimes of the collective plasmonic excitations and comment on the challenges for experimental realization of the topological effects found theoretically.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Nonradiative limitations to plasmon propagation in chains of metallic nanoparticles

We investigate the collective plasmonic modes in a chain of metallic nanoparticles that are coupled by near-field interactions. The size- and momentum-dependent nonradiative Landau damping and radiative decay rates are calculated analytically within an open quantum system approach. These decay rates determine the excitation propagation along the chain. In particular, the behavior of the radiative decay rate as a function of the plasmon wavelength leads to a transition from an exponential decay of the collective excitation for short distances to an algebraic decay for large distances. Importantly, we show that the exponential decay is of a purely nonradiative origin. Our transparent model enables us to provide analytical expressions for the polarization-dependent plasmon excitation profile along the chain and for the associated propagation length. Our theoretical analysis constitutes an important step in the quest for the optimal conditions for plasmonic propagation in nanoparticle chains.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗