Strong Er³⁺ radiative emission enhancement by quasi-BIC modes coupling in all-dielectric slot nanoantenna arrays

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padova, Italy
² The Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BW, United Kingdom

^* e-mail: boris.kalinic@unipd.it

Published online: 18 October 2023

Abstract

We have designed and realized all-dielectric lossless nanoantennas, in which a thin SiO2 layer doped with erbium ions is placed inside slotted silicon nanopillars arranged in a square array. The modal analysis has evi-denced that the slotted nanopillar array supports optical quasi-BIC resonances with ultra-high Q-factors (up to Q∼10⁹), able to boost the electromagnetic local density of optical states in the optically active layer. Up to 3 orders of magnitude photoluminescence intensity increment and 2 orders of magnitude decay rate enhancement have been measured at room temperature when the Er³⁺ emission at about λ=1540 nm couples with the quasi-BIC resonances. Furthermore, by tailoring the nanopillar aspect ratio, the slot geometry has been exploited to obtain selective enhancements of the electric or magnetic dipole contribution to Er³⁺ radiative transitions in the NIR, keeping the emitter quantum efficiency almost unitary. Finally, by computing the angularly resolved elec-tromagnetic field enhancement inside the nanoslot, the nanoantenna directivity has been designed, proving that strong beaming effects can be obtained. Our findings have a direct impact on the development of bright and effi-cient photon sources operating at telecom wavelength that are of primary importance for quantum nanophotonic applications.