Mid-infrared surface plasmon coupled emitters utilizing intersublevel transitions in InAs quantum dots

We demonstrate mid-infrared electroluminescence from intersublevel transitions in self-assembled InAs quantum dots coupled to surface plasmon modes on metal hole arrays. Subwavelength metal hole arrays with different periodicity are patterned into the top contact of the broadband (9-15 μm) quantum dot material and the measured electroluminescence is compared to devices without a metal hole array. The resulting normally directed emission is narrowed and a splitting in the spectral structure is observed. By applying a coupled quantum electrodynamic model and using reasonable values for quantum dot distributions and plasmon linewidths we are able to reproduce the experimentally measured spectral characteristics of device emission when using strong coupling parameters.