Coupling of a Single Quantum Emitter to Channel Plasmon Polaritons

Esteban Bermúdez Ureña Plasmon Nano-optics, Institute of Photonic Sciences, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero Departamento de Fisica Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain Michael Geiselmann Plasmon Nano-optics, Institute of Photonic Sciences, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain Renaud Marty Plasmon Nano-optics, Institute of Photonic Sciences, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain Ilya P. Radko Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Odense, Denmark Tobias Holmgaard Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark Yury Alaverdyan The Nanoscience Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Esteban Moreno Departamento de Fisica Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain Francisco García-Vidal Departamento de Fisica Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Odense, Denmark Romain Quidant Plasmon Nano-optics, Institute of Photonic Sciences, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain

Efficient light-matter interaction lies at the heart of many emerging technologies that seek on-chip integration of solid-state photonic systems. Plasmonic waveguides (PWs), which guide the radiation as strongly confined surface plasmon-polariton modes, represent a promising solution to manipulate single photons in coplanar architectures with unprecedented small footprints.
Here we demonstrate, for the first time, deterministic coupling of a single quantum emitter to the channel plasmon polaritons (CPPs) supported by a V-groove PW. Theoretical simulations enable us to determine the position and orientation of the quantum emitter for efficient coupling. Concomitantly with these predictions, we demonstrate experimentally that 35% of a single Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centre emission efficiently couples to the CPP mode of the Vgroove. This work paves the way towards practical realization of efficient and long distance transfer of energy for integrated solid-state quantum systems.

esteban.bermudez@icfo.es