The controlled coupling of a single nitrogen-vacancy center to a surface plasmon mode propagating along a chemically grown silver nanowire was studied. A single nitrogen-vacancy center in a uniform dielectric environment was located and optically characterized before controllably positioning this emitter in close proximity to the nanowire. It was possible 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 was witnessed and a total rate enhancement by a factor of up to 4.6 was demonstrated.

Controlled Coupling of a Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Center to a Silver Nanowire. A.Huck, S.Kumar, A.Shakoor, U.L.Andersen: Physical Review Letters, 2011, 106[9], 096801