Plasmonic superradiance of two emitters near a metal nanorod

Quantum emitters, such as quantum dots or dye molecules, pumped and situated close to plasmonic nanostructures resonantly excite surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs). Excitation efficiency increases with the number of emitters because the SPP field synchronizes dipole oscillations of emitters, in analogy with superradiance (SR) in free space. Using a fully quantum mechanical model for two emitters coupled to a single metal nanorod, we predict that plasmonic SR increases the SPP generation yield of a single emitter by up to 15%. Such 'plasmonic SR' enhancement of SPP generation is stationary and takes place even at strong dissipation, dephasing and under incoherent pumping. Solid-state quantum emitters with blinking behaviors may be used to demonstrate plasmonic SR. Plasmonic SR may be useful for excitation of non-radiative SPP modes in plasmonic waveguides and lowering the threshold of plasmonic nanolasers.