Optical interaction of the NV- centre in diamond with a plasmonic metal nanoparticle

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model to analyze and control the optical emission of NV centers in diamond when coupled with plasmonic metal nanoparticles, enabling enhanced nanodevice performance.

Contribution

A new rigorous theoretical model and efficient computational method for NV center and plasmonic nanoparticle optical interaction are introduced.

Findings

Successfully explains existing optical emission measurements.

Shows how to enhance NV center emission via nanoparticle parameters.

Provides a pathway to optimize NV-based nanodevices.

Abstract

We present a rigorous theoretical model for the optical interaction between a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond and a plasmonic metal nanoparticle (MNP), accompanied by a computationally efficient procedure to solve the evolution. The proposed model enables us to successfully explain existing optical emission measurements of NV centres both in the presence and absence of a metal nanoparticle. We show that the NV-plasmon interaction provides a versatile new avenue to enhance and control the optical emission of an NV centre. Changes to the MNP type and size, NV-MNP centre separation, submerging medium permittivity, and NV orientation with respect to the MNP surface can be exploited to improve a plethora of NV centre based nanodevices.