Skip to content
PaperFren

Plasmonics

Can a chip guide single plasmons from diamond light sources?

Siampour H, Kumar S, Davydov VA, et al. · Light, science & applications · 2018

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

Single germanium-vacancy emitters placed inside plasmonic waveguides on crystalline silver sent over half their light into the guide, which carried it tens of micrometres.

Save to libraryView originalAsk PaperFrenStudy view

Study at a glance

Design
Other — Single GeV nanodiamonds located on silver, then embedded in HSQ plasmonic waveguides on silver film or single-crystal silver flakes; lifetime, spectra, autocorrelation and out-coupled intensity measured, with finite-element simulation.
N
A handful of individually selected single-emitter nanodiamond devices; no overall sample count given.
Population
Germanium-vacancy colour centres in HPHT-grown nanodiamonds on silver
Outcome
Emitter lifetime (Purcell factor), coupling efficiency (beta factor), plasmon propagation length, and single-photon statistics

Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.

Key findings

Coupling to the waveguide shortened the emitter lifetime from about 12.3 to 3.8 ns, giving roughly a six-fold Purcell enhancement including the silver surface. On crystalline silver the measured coupling efficiency was 56%, close to the simulated 62%, and the emission propagated 33 ± 3 μm, versus 9 ± 3 μm on the silver film. The emitters stayed single-photon sources after coupling, and the combined figure of merit of 180 exceeded earlier emitter-plasmonic waveguide systems.

Methodology

The authors grew nanodiamonds containing germanium-vacancy (GeV) colour centres, picked ones that emitted single photons, and fabricated dielectric-loaded surface plasmon waveguides around them on silver. They compared a polycrystalline silver film with smooth single-crystal silver flakes, measured lifetimes, spectra and photon correlations before and after coupling, and in a second experiment sent green laser light down the waveguide to excite the emitter remotely. Finite-element simulations predicted the coupling.

Limitations

Results come from a few hand-selected devices, and the lifetimes of GeV centres varied widely between nanodiamonds, so typical performance is uncertain. The beta factor is an apparent value estimated from out-coupled intensities, not a direct measurement. All measurements were at room temperature, so the cooperativity is an upper estimate and photon indistinguishability was not tested; single-plasmon detection and interference on the chip were not shown.

How this study connects

Role on claims

Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.

  • SupportsPlasmonic nanogaps and field enhancementconcept

    Better metal quality means much longer plasmon propagation.

    Confined modes also guide single-emitter light: a germanium-vacancy centre in a plasmonic waveguide on crystalline silver coupled 56% of its emission into the guide (62% simulated), which propagated 33 um versus 9 um on a silver film.

    Evidence for the claim as stated.

Related papers in this topic

Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.