Perspective in ACS Photonics on Single Photon Nano-antennas

The Perspective paper “single photon nano-antennas” in ACS Photonics reviews the use of plasmon antennas for single-photon applications. The idea to use plasmon antennas for single-photon sources was first conceived at the time of the first Gordon Research Conference in Plasmonics in 2006, chaired by Polman and Atwater. Since then much progress has been made in coupling single molecules and single quantum dots to plasmon structures such that you get bright, efficient and directional single photon sources with large Purcell factors.

The paper reviews the essential figures of merit, how to measure them, and the various antenna types that have been reported and their performance. Finally it offers a perspective on future challenges for the field.