Optically pumped plasmonic nanolasers: Experimentally fitted time-resolved multiphysics modeling of lasing dynamics (Invited)

As an example of the light-matter interaction between a plasmonic system with gain media, we develop and analyze a multi-physics time domain model of an optically pumped plasmonic nanolaser. We utilize a classical finite difference time-domain (FDTD) model coupled to the rate equations of a generic 4-level gain system. First, we develop an online tool for the time domain simulation of multi-level gain systems, which is freely available at nanoHUB.org. The tool simulates the local (0-dimension) response of a 4-level gain system interacting with one or two sequential incident light pulses. This tool represents a convenient toy model for retrieving kinetic energy parameters of gain media for further numerical analysis. With the help of parameter tuning using our tool and feedback from experiments, we can further improve our understanding of the time-resolved physics of plasmonic nanostructures with gain. As an example, we study lasing behavior in silver nanohole arrays coated with Rhodamine-101 (R101) dye. The experimentally-fitted time-resolved 3D model is in good agreement with the measured data. The simulated emission intensity shows lasing effect matching with the experimental measurements.