Strong coupling between a metallic nanoparticle and a single molecule
  We theoretically investigate strong coupling between a single molecule and a single metallic nanoparticle. A theory suited for the quantum-mechanical description of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) is developed. The coupling between these SPPs and a single molecule, and the modified molecular dynamics in presence of the nanoparticle are described within a combined Drude and boundary-element-method approach. Our results show that strong coupling is possible for single molecules and metallic nanoparticles, and can be observed in fluorescence spectroscopy through the splitting of emission peaks. 
Andreas Truegler and Ulrich Hohenester