Controlling the coupling of a single nitrogen vacancy center to a Silver nanowire
01 May 2011-Vol. 106, Iss: 9, pp 096801-096801
TL;DR: The controlled coupling of a single nitrogen-vacancy center to a surface plasmon mode propagating along a chemically grown silver nanowire (NW) and directly compare the photon emission properties before and after the coupling is reported.
Abstract: Dipole emitters are expected to efficiently couple to the plasmonic mode propagating along a cylindrically shaped metallic nano-structure [1]. Such a strongly coupled system could serve as a fundamental building block for a single photon source on demand and a device enabling strong non-linear interaction at the level of a few photons [2]. In our contribution we demonstrate the controlled coupling of a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in a diamond nano-crystal to a nanowire made of silver. This is in contrast to previous realizations, where the nanowire - dipole system was assembled randomly [3,4]. Ultimate control over the relative nanowire diamond nano-crystal position is achieved by using an atomic force microscope (AFM) in contact mode operation.
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TL;DR: An overview of the theoretical principles involved, as well as applications ranging from high-precision quantum electrodynamics experiments to quantum-information processing can be found in this paper.
Abstract: Quantum dots embedded in photonics nanostructures provide unprecedented control over the interaction between light and matter. This review gives an overview of the theoretical principles involved, as well as applications ranging from high-precision quantum electrodynamics experiments to quantum-information processing.
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Cites methods from "Controlling the coupling of a singl..."
...In the context of quantum plasmonics, nanocrystals containing a single NV-defect center were successfully manipulated with an atomic-force microscope (Huck et al., 2011; Schell et al., 2011)....
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TL;DR: A review of recent progress in the experimental and theoretical investigation of surface plasmons, their role in controlling light-matter interactions at the quantum level and potential applications can be found in this article.
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TL;DR: The physical principles that allow for magnetic field detection with NV centres are presented and first applications of NV magnetometers that have been demonstrated in the context of nano magnetism, mesoscopic physics and the life sciences are discussed.
Abstract: The isolated electronic spin system of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond offers unique possibilities to be employed as a nanoscale sensor for detection and imaging of weak magnetic fields. Magnetic imaging with nanometric resolution and field detection capabilities in the nanotesla range are enabled by the atomic-size and exceptionally long spin-coherence times of this naturally occurring defect. The exciting perspectives that ensue from these characteristics have triggered vivid experimental activities in the emerging field of 'NV magnetometry'. It is the purpose of this article to review the recent progress in high-sensitivity nanoscale NV magnetometry, generate an overview of the most pertinent results of the last years and highlight perspectives for future developments. We will present the physical principles that allow for magnetic field detection with NV centres and discuss first applications of NV magnetometers that have been demonstrated in the context of nano magnetism, mesoscopic physics and the life sciences.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the fundamental aspects of surface plasmons propagating on planar metallic surfaces and localized at metallic nanoparticles are summarized, and recent progress in plasmonic waveguides and light-emitting devices is reviewed.
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255 citations
References
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TL;DR: This work demonstrates a cavity-free, broadband approach for engineering photon–emitter interactions via subwavelength confinement of optical fields near metallic nanostructures and shows that efficient coupling is accompanied by more than 2.5-fold enhancement of the quantum dot spontaneous emission, in good agreement with theoretical predictions.
Abstract: Control over the interaction between single photons and individual optical emitters is an outstanding problem in quantum science and engineering. It is of interest for ultimate control over light quanta, as well as for potential applications such as efficient photon collection, single-photon switching and transistors, and long-range optical coupling of quantum bits. Recently, substantial advances have been made towards these goals, based on modifying photon fields around an emitter using high-finesse optical cavities. Here we demonstrate a cavity-free, broadband approach for engineering photon-emitter interactions via subwavelength confinement of optical fields near metallic nanostructures. When a single CdSe quantum dot is optically excited in close proximity to a silver nanowire, emission from the quantum dot couples directly to guided surface plasmons in the nanowire, causing the wire's ends to light up. Non-classical photon correlations between the emission from the quantum dot and the ends of the nanowire demonstrate that the latter stems from the generation of single, quantized plasmons. Results from a large number of devices show that efficient coupling is accompanied by more than 2.5-fold enhancement of the quantum dot spontaneous emission, in good agreement with theoretical predictions.
1,412 citations
"Controlling the coupling of a singl..." refers result in this paper
...This is in contrast to previous realizations, where the nanowire - dipole system was assembled randomly [ 3 ,4]....
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TL;DR: In this article, a stable all solid-state source for single photons utilizing the fluorescence light from a single nitrogen-vacancy center (N-V center) in diamond is presented.
Abstract: The controlled generation of single photons is mandatory for applications in quantum communication, in particular for secure quantum cryptography, and also for a number of fundamental problems in quantum optics. Here, we present a stable all solid-state source for single photons utilizing the fluorescence light from a single nitrogen-vacancy center (N-V center) in diamond.
1,268 citations
"Controlling the coupling of a singl..." refers background in this paper
...The auto-correlation function measurement of this particular single NV-center is shown by the black dots in Fig. 2 (b) and the red solid line is a best fit to the data [ 5 ]....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors exploit the strong coupling between individual optical emitters and propagating surface plasmons confined to a conducting nanowire to realize strong nonlinear interactions at the single-photon level.
Abstract: Photons rarely interact—which makes it challenging to build all-optical devices in which one light signal controls another. Even in nonlinear optical media, in which two beams can interact because of their influence on the medium’s refractive index, this interaction is weak at low light levels. Here, we propose a novel approach to realizing strong nonlinear interactions at the single-photon level, by exploiting the strong coupling between individual optical emitters and propagating surface plasmons confined to a conducting nanowire. We show that this system can act as a nonlinear two-photon switch for incident photons propagating along the nanowire, which can be coherently controlled using conventional quantum-optical techniques. Furthermore, we discuss how the interaction can be tailored to create a single-photon transistor, where the presence (or absence) of a single incident photon in a ‘gate’ field is sufficient to allow (or prevent) the propagation of subsequent ‘signal’ photons along the wire.
1,175 citations
TL;DR: A technique that enables strong, coherent coupling between individual optical emitters and guided plasmon excitations in conducting nanostructures at optical frequencies is described and it is shown that under realistic conditions optical emission can be almost entirely directed into the plAsmon modes.
Abstract: We describe a technique that enables strong, coherent coupling between individual optical emitters and guided plasmon excitations in conducting nanostructures at optical frequencies. We show that under realistic conditions optical emission can be almost entirely directed into the plasmon modes. As an example, we describe an application of this technique involving efficient generation of single photons on demand, in which the plasmon is efficiently outcoupled to a dielectric waveguide.
750 citations
"Controlling the coupling of a singl..." refers background or methods in this paper
...For the nanowire diameter of 55nm and a diamond height of 27nm we expect from calculations [ 1 ] a total rate enhancement of 3.8, assuming that the NV center is located at the maximum position of 27nm away from the nanowire surface and that the NV centers dipole moment is aligned parallel to the radial electric field component Er of the propagating plasmonic mode....
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...Dipole emitters are expected to efficiently couple to the plasmonic mode propagating along a cylindrically shaped metallic nano-structure [ 1 ]....
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TL;DR: In this paper, a single-photon source coupled to a silver nanowire excites single surface plasmon polaritons that exhibit both wave and particle properties, similar to those of single photons.
Abstract: When light interacts with metal surfaces, it excites electrons, which can form propagating excitation waves called surface plasmon polaritons. These collective electronic excitations can produce strong electric fields localized to subwavelength distance scales 1 , which makes surface plasmon polaritons interesting for several applications. Many of these potential uses, and in particular those related to quantum networks 2 , r equire a deep understanding of the fundamental quantum properties of surface plasmon polaritons. Remarkably, these collective electron states preserve many key quantum mechanical properties of the photons used to excite them, including entanglement 3,4 and sub-Poissonian statistics 5 . Here, we show that a single-photon source coupled to a silver nanowire excites single surface plasmon polaritons that exhibit both wave and particle properties, similar to those of single photons. Furthermore, the detailed analysis of the spectral interference pattern provides a new method to characterize the dimensions of metallic waveguides with nanometre accuracy.
366 citations
"Controlling the coupling of a singl..." refers result in this paper
...This is in contrast to previous realizations, where the nanowire - dipole system was assembled randomly [3, 4 ]....
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