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Making single photon sources brighter requires simultaneous control over whereto a single emitter emits, how fast it emits upon excitation, and finally also over where the pump field is strongest. We present near-field and far-field experiments to independently quantify all these figures of merits in plasmon antennas that are oligomers of coupled elements. We explain how collective dark modes actually give rise to brighter emission.

plasmonics; spontaneous emission; antennas; single molecule microscopy