Markov chains for modeling complex luminescence, absorption, and scattering in nanophotonic systems.

We developed a method to model fluorescence, absorption, and scattering in nanophotonic systems using ergodic Markov chains. Past works have used absorbing Markov chains to find the long-run angle-dependent distribution of emitted photons. In contrast, we use ergodic Markov chains to focus on the steady state distribution of photons within various media, giving additional insight into the macroscopic optical response during illumination.

Enhanced Third-Order Optical Nonlinearity Driven by Surface-Plasmon Field Gradients.

Efficient nonlinear optical frequency mixing in small volumes is key for future on-chip photonic devices. However, the generally low conversion efficiency severely limits miniaturization to nanoscale dimensions. Here we demonstrate that gradient-field effects can provide for an efficient, conventionally dipole-forbidden nonlinear response.