  We report a controlled emission of Ce3+ ions inside single Yttrium Aluminum
Gar- net Y3Al5O12 (YAG:Ce3+) nanocrystals with a diameter of 22 +- 10 nm as a
result of a coupling of a surface plasmon mode propagating along single gold
nanowire (NW). From the PL images, the intensity for single YAG:Ce3+
nanocrystals in the proximity of the single gold NW increases by a factor of
two in comparison with that without the NW. Also, we observe a maximum of
3.8-fold emission rate en- hancements for the single nanocrystal close to the
single gold NW. The emission rate enhancements of YAG:Ce3+ nanocrystals are two
folds the enhancements of 100-nm fluorescent nanospheres. This value is in
agreement with the calculation of a combi- nation from the analytical
scattering model and boundary element method (BEM). We also confirm that the
small size light sources are more efficient for the emission rate enhancements.
Thus, the controlled emission of small YAG:Ce3+ nanocrystals with the perfect
photostabilities will pave the way for the ultimate efficient nanoscale light
sources.
