Phenomena such as earthquakes, landslides, forest fires, species extinctions, stock market crashes, and wars are all examples of self-organized criticality in nature, exhibiting avalanche-like behavior. In optics, a similar behavior is observed in the photon emission from certain rare-earth-doped nanoparticles, specifically those doped with thulium ions (Tm³⁺). This highly nonlinear phenomenon is known as the photon avalanche (PA). The emission from these Avalanching Nanoparticles (ANPs) exhibits a nonlinear response to the excitation source (see Figure 1), making them promising probes for applications such as super-resolution biological imaging. Building on our team's expertise in manipulating electric and magnetic light-matter interactions at the nanoscale, we propose to study the influence of plasmonic nano-antennas (see Figure 2) on the internal physical mechanisms of the photon avalanche. As part of this fundamental research project, we will employ experimental techniques such as Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM), power-dependent measurements, and spectroscopic analysis to characterize the exotic behavior of ANPs. Collaborating with the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University, this experimental project is at the forefront of a new field of research with high potential for significant scientific publications and technological applications.