Controlled coupling of a single nitrogen-vacancy center to a silver nanowire

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the controlled coupling of a single nitrogen-vacancy center to a silver nanowire, enabling enhanced photon emission through surface plasmon modes with a rate increase of up to 4.6 times.

Contribution

It introduces a method for precise positioning and coupling of a single NV center to a plasmonic nanowire, enabling controlled enhancement of emission properties.

Findings

Photon emission rate increased by up to 4.6 times.

Controlled positioning allows for direct comparison of emission before and after coupling.

Surface plasmon modes are successfully excited and observed.

Abstract

We report on the controlled coupling of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center to a surface plasmon mode propagating along a chemically grown silver nanowire. We locate and optically characterize a single NV-center in a uniform dielectric environment before we controllably position this emitter in the close proximity of the nanowire. We are thus able to control the coupling of this particular emitter to the nanowire and directly compare the photon emission properties before and after the coupling. The excitation of single plasmonic modes is witnessed and a total rate enhancement by a factor of up to 4.6 is demonstrated.