We theoretically investigate the bistable spontaneous emission behavior of a single emitter in the vicinity of a hybrid VO2@Au nanoshell. The hybrid nanoshell is illuminated by a continuous wave (CW) pump laser. The incident beam generates heat through light absorption and causes the VO2 to undergo the phase change from semiconductor to metallic mode. Our calculation shows that for certain values, over a range of incident laser intensity (0.25 (GW/m2) < I < 0.84 (GW/m2)), at the resonance wavelength of the (semiconductor)@Au nanoshell ( ) there is a reasonable bistable contrast for the two spontaneous emission rate values; the radiative and non- radiative decay rates. Our results provide important general guidelines for enabling platforms for optical switching sources and tunable sensors.
