Role of Rabi oscillations in radiative states due to the fully absorbing smaller plasmonic nanoparticles

The modified radiative and non-radiative states due to the weak coupling of an emitter with other resonant objects (Purcell effect) can be recast as a quantum interference of the paths of the photon that define the classical scattering and absorption by the object. When the coupling is stronger, additional paths representing the Rabi oscillations or the possible re-absorption of the photon from the excited object, by the emitter at the ground-state, have to be included in the quantum interference. The effect of these additional Rabi paths of the photon on the radiative states and the efficiency of spontaneous emission can be approximated using a simple one-loop correction to the weak-coupling approximation. This effect is especially evident in the anomalous enhancements of emission due to extremely small non-scattering (or almost fully absorbing) metal nanoparticles less than 10 nm in dimensions approximately. Extending these corrections to a collective model of spontaneous emission that includes multiple emitters and such very small metal nanoparticles coupled to each other, the large contribution of Rabi paths to radiative decay in such bulk materials is elucidated. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.