We report on strong coupling between surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) and Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules, with double vacuum Rabi splitting energies up to 230 and 110 meV. In addition, we demonstrate the emission of all three energy branches of the str
ongly coupled SPP-exciton hybrid system, revealing features of system dynamics that are not visible in conventional reflectometry. Finally, in analogy to tunable-Q microcavities, we show that the Rabi splitting can be controlled by adjusting the interaction time between waveguided SPPs and R6G deposited on top of the waveguide. The interaction time can be controlled with sub-fs precision by adjusting the length of the R6G area with standard lithography methods.
We present a method to measure the critical temperature of the island of a superconducting single electron transistor. The method is based on a sharp change in the slope of the zero-bias conductance as a function of temperature. We have used this met
hod to determine the superconducting phase transition temperature of the Nb island of an superconducting single electron transistor with Al leads. We obtain $T_mathrm{c}^mathrm{Nb}$ as high as 8.5 K and gap energies up to $Delta_mathrm{Nb}simeq 1.45$ meV. By looking at the zero bias conductance as a function of magnetic field instead of temperature, also the critical field of the island can be determined. Using the orthodox theory, we have performed extensive numerical simulations of charge transport properties in the SET at temperatures comparable to the gap, which match very well the data, therefore providing a solid theoretical basis for our method.
