Nanoscale control over the second-order photon correlation function $g^{\left(2\right)}\left(\tau \right)$ is critical to emerging research in nonlinear nanophotonics and integrated quantum information science. Here we report on quasiparticle control of photon bunching with $g^{\left(2\right)}\left(0\right)>45$ in the cathodoluminescence of nanodiamond nitrogen vacancy (${\mathrm{NV}}^0$) centers excited by a converged electron beam in an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. Plasmon-mediated ${\mathrm{NV}}^0$ cathodoluminescence exhibits a 16-fold increase in luminescence intensity correlated with a threefold reduction in photon bunching compared with that of uncoupled ${\mathrm{NV}}^0$ centers. This effect is ascribed to the excitation of single temporally uncorrelated ${\mathrm{NV}}^0$ centers by single surface plasmon polaritons. Spectrally resolved Hanbury Brown–Twiss interferometry is employed to demonstrate that the bunching is mediated by the ${\mathrm{NV}}^0$ phonon sidebands, while no observable bunching is detected at the zero-phonon line. The data are consistent with fast phonon-mediated recombination dynamics, a conclusion substantiated by agreement between Bayesian regression and Monte Carlo models of superthermal ${\mathrm{NV}}^0$ luminescence.

• Received 19 October 2017
• Revised 9 January 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.97.081404