Diamond nanoparticles as surface-plasmon launchers: Towards a « deterministic » quantum plasmonics

A nanodiamond hosting two NV centers is attached onto the apex of an optical fiber-tip and illuminated by a laser light guided by the fiber itself. Gold films are dipped into the optical near field of the functionalized tip. The fluorescence light generated by the NVs efficiently launches surface plasmons that are imaged by near-field microscopy. Since the nanodiamond is a quasi single-photon source, we argue that single surface plasmons form the experimental images. This is a first step towards a “deterministic” quantum plasmonics where quantum plasmons can be launched at any freely chosen position in a plasmonic receptacle.