Controlled addressing of quantum dots by nanowire plasmons

We demonstrate optical near field coupling of small quantum dot (QD) ensembles and surface plasmons propagating along a silver nanowire. The nanowire fabrication and the aligned QD deposition close to one nanowire end rely on a two-step electron beam lithography procedure. We observe both the addressing of QDs by plasmons and the excitation of plasmonic nanowire modes by QDs. We use the fluorescence signals to quantify the QD/plasmon coupling and show that part of the plasmon-induced QD fluorescence couples back to plasmonic modes.