Typical emitters such as molecules, quantum dots and semiconductor quantum wells have
slow spontaneous emission with lifetimes of 1–10 ns, creating a mismatch with high-speed
nanoscale optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, single-photon sources and
lasers. Here we experimentally demonstrate an ultrafast (< 11 ps) yet efficient source of
spontaneous emission, corresponding to an emission rate exceeding 90 GHz, using a
hybrid structure of single plasmonic nanopatch antennas coupled to colloidal quantum dots …