Efficient Coupling of Single Organic Molecules to Channel Plasmon Polaritons Supported by V-Grooves in Monocrystalline Gold

Single dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules in anthracene nanocrystals have been shown to emit single photons without blinking, bleaching, or spectral diffusion. Efficient integration of these molecules into photonic circuits will pave the way toward the realization of quantum optical networks. Here, we incorporate anthracene nanocrystals containing single DBT molecules into plasmonic V-grooves milled with a focused ion beam in monocrystalline gold flakes. The fabricated V-grooves exhibit high-quality low-loss guiding of channel plasmon polaritons with the propagation length reaching ∼14 μm at a wavelength of 800 nm. For DBT molecules coupled to the V-grooves, we observe enhanced emission decay rates with up to 50% of the emission being funneled into channel plasmon polaritons.