A diamond nano-crystal hosting a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) center is optically selected with a confocal scanning microscope and positioned deterministically onto the subwavelength-diameter waist of a tapered optical fiber (TOF) with the help of an atomic force microscope. Based on this nano-manipulation technique we experimentally demonstrate the evanescent coupling of single fluorescence photons emitted by a single NV-center to the guided mode of the TOF. By comparing photon count rates of the fiber-guided and the free-space modes and with the help of numerical FDTD simulations we determine a lower and upper bound for the coupling efficiency of (9.5 ± 0.6)% and (10.4 ± 0.7)%, respectively. Our results are a promising starting point for future integration of single photon sources into photonic quantum networks and applications in quantum information science.PACS numbers: 03.67. 42.50.Ex, 78.67.Bf Efficient collection of single photons radiated by a single solid state quantum emitter -like the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond 1 -is an important prerequisite for future applications in applied physical and quantum information science, like ultra-sensitive fluorescence spectroscopy and linear optical quantum computation 2-4 . A standard technique for fluorescence collection is confocal microscopy. However, when applied to defect centers in bulk diamond, total internal reflection limits the collection efficiency to few percent. Recently, the collection efficiency of NV-fluorescence has been increased by one order of magnitude by combining confocal microscopy with solid immersion lenses (SILs) 5-7 , respectively photonic nanowires 8 . In the latter system the improvement is based on efficient coupling of NV-fluorescence photons to the strongly confined mode (HE 11 ) 9-11 of diamond nanowires. For defect centers in diamond nano-crystals, tapered optical fibers (TOFs) 12 with a subwavelength diameter waist are a particularly attractive alternative platform. Due to the strong evanescent field at the surface, such TOFs promise coupling efficiencies up to 36%13,14 and approaching unity when combined with Bragg-grating cavities 15,16 . Until now, evanescent coupling of fluorescence photons to a single guided mode of a TOF has been achieved for a) email: lars.liebermeister@physik.uni-muenchen.de b) email: markusweber@lmu.de various solid state quantum emitters 17-20 , molecules 21 , and laser-cooled atomic vapors 22 . To bring these emitters into the strong evanescent optical field at the surface of the nano-fiber several non-deterministic deposition techniques like dip-coating 17,18 , picoliter-dispensers 19,20 , and optical surface traps 23 have been applied. However, for real applications in quantum information science, e. g., the photonic quantum-bus mediated coupling of NVcenters in a lattice 24 , deterministic positioning of single solid state quantum emitters onto the submicron waist of a TOF with nm position control is desirable. In this letter we demonstrate significant steps towards deterministic coup...

The strong radial confinement and the pronounced evanescent field of the guided light in optical nanofibers yield favorable conditions for ultra-sensitive surface spectroscopy of molecules deposited on the fiber. Using the guided mode of the nanofiber for both excitation and fluorescence collection, we present spectroscopic measurements on 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride molecules (PTCDA) at ambient conditions. Surface coverages as small as 1 per thousand of a compact monolayer still give rise to fluorescence spectra with a good signal to noise ratio. Moreover, we analyze and quantify the self-absorption effects due to reabsorption of the emitted fluorescence light by circumjacent surface-adsorbed molecules distributed along the fiber waist.

We review our recent progress in the production and characterization of tapered optical fibers with a sub-wavelength diameter waist. Such fibers exhibit a pronounced evanescent field and are therefore a useful tool for highly sensitive evanescent wave spectroscopy of adsorbates on the fiber waist or of the medium surrounding. We use a carefully designed flame pulling process that allows us to realize preset fiber diameter profiles. In order to determine the waist diameter and to verify the fiber profile, we employ scanning electron microscope measurements and a novel accurate in situ optical method based on harmonic generation. We use our fibers for linear and non-linear absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy of surface-adsorbed organic molecules and investigate their agglomeration dynamics. Furthermore, we apply our spectroscopic method to quantum dots on the surface of the fiber waist and to caesium vapor surrounding the fiber. Finally, towards dispersive measurements, we present our first results on building and testing a single-fiber bi-modal interferometer.Comment: 13 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in Applied Physics B. Changes according to referee suggestions: changed title, clarification of some points in the text, added references, replacement of Figure 13