Plasmon-Emitter Interactions at the Nanoscale

Abstract: Plasmon-emitter interactions are of paramount importance in modern nanoplasmonics and are generally maximal at short emitter-surface separations. However, when the separation falls below 10-20 nm, the classical theory progressively deteriorates due to its neglect of quantum mechanical effects such as nonlocality, electronic spill-out, and Landau damping. Here, we show how this neglect can be remedied by presenting a unified theoretical treatment of mesoscopic electrodynamics grounded on the framework of Feibelman $d$-parameters. Crucially, our technique naturally incorporates nonclassical resonance shifts and surface-enabled Landau damping - a nonlocal damping effect - which have a dramatic impact on the amplitude and spectral distribution of plasmon-emitter interactions. We consider a broad array of plasmon-emitter interactions ranging from dipolar and multipolar spontaneous emission enhancement, to plasmon-assisted energy transfer and enhancement of two-photon transitions. The formalism presented here gives a complete account of both plasmons and plasmon-emitter interactions at the nanoscale, constituting a simple yet rigorous and general platform to incorporate nonclassical effects in plasmon-empowered nanophotonic phenomena.