Superemitters in Hybrid Photonic Systems: A Simple Lumping Rule for the Local Density of Optical States and its Break-Down at the Unitary Limit

摘要

We theoretically investigate how the enhancement of the radiative decay rateof a spontaneous emitter provided by coupling to an optical antenna is modifiedwhen this "superemitter" is introduced into a complex photonic environment thatprovides an enhanced local density of optical states (LDOS) itself, such as amicrocavity. We show that photonic environments with increased LDOS furtherboost the performance of antennas that scatter weakly, i.e. that are far fromthe unitary limit, for which a simple multiplicative LDOS lumping rule holds.In contrast, enhancements provided by antennas close to the unitary limit, i.e.antennas close to the limit of maximally possible scattering strength, arestrongly reduced by an enhanced LDOS of the environment. Thus, we identifymultiple scattering in hybrid photonic systems as a powerful mechanism for LDOSengineering.