Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review B

Enhanced single-photon emission in the near infrared from a diamond color center

Igor Aharonovich, Chunyuan Zhou, Alastair D. Stacey, Julius O. Orwa, Stefania Castelletto, David Simpson, Andrew D. Greentree, François Treussart, Jean-François Roch, Steven Prawer

Published Jun 15, 2009• 83 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Individual color centers in diamond are promising for near-term quantum technologies including quantum key distribution and metrology. Here we show fabrication of an as-yet uncharacterized nickel-related complex in diamond which has photophysical properties surpassing the two main-stay centers for single-photon applications, namely, the nitrogen-vacancy and the nickel-nitrogen complex (NE8) center. This center was fabricated using focused ion-beam implantation of nickel into isolated chemical vapor-deposited diamond crystals. A possible correlation of the center to a Ni/Si complex is substantiated by a coimplantation of Ni and Si into a pure bulk diamond. Room-temperature photoluminescence studies reveal a narrow emission in the near infrared region centered at 768 nm with a lifetime as short as 2 ns.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.79.235316

Related papers

A new, enhanced diamond single photon emitter in the near infra-red

Igor Aharonovich, Chunyuan Zhou, Alastair D. Stacey +6 more

Individual color centers in diamond are promising for near-term quantum technologies including quantum key distribution and metrology. Here we show fabrication of a new color center which has photophysical properties surpassing those of the two main-stay centers, namely the nitrogen vacancy and NE8 centers. The new center is fabricated using focused ion beam implantation of nickel into isolated chemical vapor deposited diamond micro-crystals. Room temperature photoluminescence studies reveal a narrow emission in the near infrared region centered at 768 nm with a lifetime as short as 2 ns. Its focused ion beam compatibility opens the prospect to fabrication with nanometer resolution and realization of integrated quantum photonic devices. Preliminary investigations suggest that this center arises from an as-yet uncharacterized nickel-silicon complex.

arXiv:0902.3051•Feb 18, 2009•1 citation

Single-photon emission from Ni-related color centers in CVD diamond

David Steinmetz, Elke Neu, Christian Hepp +5 more

Color centers in diamond are very promising candidates among the possible realizations for practical singlephoton sources because of their long-time stable emission at room temperature. The popular nitrogen-vacancy center shows single-photon emission, but within a large, phonon-broadened spectrum (≈ 100 nm), which strongly limits its applicability for quantum communication. By contrast, Ni-related centers exhibit narrow emission lines at room temperature. We present investigations on single color centers consisting of Ni and Si created by ion implantation into single crystalline IIa diamond. We use systematic variations of ion doses between 108 cm-2 and 1014 cm-2 and energies between 30 keV and 1.8MeV. The Ni-related centers show emission in the near infrared spectral range (≈ 770 nm to 787 nm) with a small line-width (≈ 3 nm FWHM). A measurement of the intensity correlation function proves single-photon emission. Saturation measurements yield a rather high saturation count rate of 77.9kcounts/s. Polarization dependent measurements indicate the presence of two orthogonal dipoles.

arXiv:1003.3388•Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Apr 30, 2010•7 citations

Near infrared ultra-bright triggered single photon source from nano-diamonds

Stefania Castelletto, Igor Aharonovich, David Simpson +2 more

Quantum communication and quantum metrology established a demand for an accessible solid state systems which can generate a stream of single photons on demand [1]. Although single photon emission has been demonstrated from quantum dots (QD)[1,2], single molecules [3] and nanowires [4], their practical operation is limited by the temperature or photostability. Diamond crystals, however, are the most promising platform for generation of robust, photo-stable, single photons at room temperature [5,6]. Nevertheless, out of more than 500 existing optical centers in diamond only three known centers demonstrated a clear single photon emission: the nitrogen-vacancy complex [6,7], the silicon-vacancy complex [8] and the nickel-nitrogen complex [9,10]. Recent progress in materials science and fabrication techniques of diamond color centers unveiled novel quantum emitters with photo-physical properties surpassing the current mainstream [11,12,13]. Consequently, the versatility of the diamond lattice to host various impurities which give luminescence signals lead to a dramatic discovery of ultra bright single photon emitters operating in the MHz regime [14]. These new centers, comparable with QD in terms of brightness [1], but have the tremendous advantage of their room temperature operation and photo-stability. Furthermore, it opened a new avenue to investigate essentially an unknown group of single photon emitters. A brief description of the fabrication methods and a detailed quantum optical characterization of this class of diamond emitters is the subject of this presentation. In particular we will present the photo-physical properties of a novel family of single photon emitters, most likely originated from Cr impurities within the chemical vapor deposition grown nano-diamond crystals. We concentrate on the typical emission lines in the range of 740 - 790 nm, which exhibit single photon emission with count rate in the range of 0.8-3.2 106 counts/s at the limit of infinite optical excitation power, and life time as short as 1 ns. Even more, some of the emitters exhibit a photon statistics without any photon bunching, indicating a two-level system with unitary quantum efficiency. We will also show preliminary results of a resonant excitation at 4 K. We will highlight future directions to optimize these sources and avenues to investigate the fundamental properties of these centers.

•Jan 1, 2009•0 citations

Diamond-based single-photon emission in the near infrared

E Wu, V. Jacques, François Treussart +3 more

We report on the observation of optically active colour centres based on Nickel-Nitrogen impurities in natural diamond samples. These emitters can efficiently generate single photons in the near infrared. Their photoluminescence is perfectly stable at room temperature and has several striking features, such as a narrow band emission around 780 nm and a short photon emission lifetime around 2 ns. We present a detailed study of their photophysical properties measured under continuous-wave excitation.

Journal de Physique IV (Proceedings)•Oct 1, 2006•0 citations

Narrow-band single-photon emission in the near infrared for quantum key distribution

E Wu, V. Jacques, Heping Zeng +3 more

We present a detailed study of photophysical properties of single color centers in natural diamond samples emitting in the near infrared under optical excitation. Photoluminescence of these single emitters has several striking features, including narrow-band (FWHM 2 nm) fully polarized emission around 780 nm, a short excited-state lifetime of about 2 ns, and perfect photostability at room temperature under our excitation conditions. Development of a triggered single-photon source relying on this single color center is discussed for application to quantum key distribution.

arXiv:quant-ph/0512032•Optics Express•Jan 1, 2006•83 citations

Room temperature triggered single-photon source in the near infrared

E Wu, J. R. Rabeau, G. Roger +5 more

We report the realization of a solid-state triggered single-photon source with narrow emission in the near infrared at room temperature. It is based on the photoluminescence of a single nickel–nitrogen NE8 colour centre in a chemical vapour deposited diamond nanocrystal. Stable single-photon emission has been observed in the photoluminescence under both continuous-wave and pulsed excitations. The realization of this source represents a step forward in the application of diamond-based single-photon sources to quantum key distribution (QKD) under practical operating conditions.

arXiv:0708.1878•New Journal of Physics•Dec 5, 2007•94 citations
Individual color centers in diamond are promising for near-term quantum technologies including quantum key distribution and metrology. Here we show fabrication of an as-yet uncharacterized nickel-related complex in diamond which has photophysical properties surpassing the two main-stay centers for single-photon applications, namely, the nitrogen-vacancy and the nickel-nitrogen complex (NE8) center. This center was fabricated using focused ion-beam implantation of nickel into isolated chemical vapor-deposited diamond crystals. A possible correlation of the center to a Ni/Si complex is substantiated by a coimplantation of Ni and Si into a pure bulk diamond. Room-temperature photoluminescence studies reveal a narrow emission in the near infrared region centered at 768 nm with a lifetime as short as 2 ns.
Individual color centers in diamond are promising for near-term quantum technologies including quantum key distribution and metrology. Here we show fabrication of a new color center which has photophysical properties surpassing those of the two main-stay centers, namely the nitrogen vacancy and NE8 centers. The new center is fabricated using focused ion beam implantation of nickel into isolated chemical vapor deposited diamond micro-crystals. Room temperature photoluminescence studies reveal a narrow emission in the near infrared region centered at 768 nm with a lifetime as short as 2 ns. Its focused ion beam compatibility opens the prospect to fabrication with nanometer resolution and realization of integrated quantum photonic devices. Preliminary investigations suggest that this center arises from an as-yet uncharacterized nickel-silicon complex.
Color centers in diamond are very promising candidates among the possible realizations for practical singlephoton sources because of their long-time stable emission at room temperature. The popular nitrogen-vacancy center shows single-photon emission, but within a large, phonon-broadened spectrum (≈ 100 nm), which strongly limits its applicability for quantum communication. By contrast, Ni-related centers exhibit narrow emission lines at room temperature. We present investigations on single color centers consisting of Ni and Si created by ion implantation into single crystalline IIa diamond. We use systematic variations of ion doses between 108 cm-2 and 1014 cm-2 and energies between 30 keV and 1.8MeV. The Ni-related centers show emission in the near infrared spectral range (≈ 770 nm to 787 nm) with a small line-width (≈ 3 nm FWHM). A measurement of the intensity correlation function proves single-photon emission. Saturation measurements yield a rather high saturation count rate of 77.9kcounts/s. Polarization dependent measurements indicate the presence of two orthogonal dipoles.
Quantum communication and quantum metrology established a demand for an accessible solid state systems which can generate a stream of single photons on demand [1]. Although single photon emission has been demonstrated from quantum dots (QD)[1,2], single molecules [3] and nanowires [4], their practical operation is limited by the temperature or photostability. Diamond crystals, however, are the most promising platform for generation of robust, photo-stable, single photons at room temperature [5,6]. Nevertheless, out of more than 500 existing optical centers in diamond only three known centers demonstrated a clear single photon emission: the nitrogen-vacancy complex [6,7], the silicon-vacancy complex [8] and the nickel-nitrogen complex [9,10]. Recent progress in materials science and fabrication techniques of diamond color centers unveiled novel quantum emitters with photo-physical properties surpassing the current mainstream [11,12,13]. Consequently, the versatility of the diamond lattice to host various impurities which give luminescence signals lead to a dramatic discovery of ultra bright single photon emitters operating in the MHz regime [14]. These new centers, comparable with QD in terms of brightness [1], but have the tremendous advantage of their room temperature operation and photo-stability. Furthermore, it opened a new avenue to investigate essentially an unknown group of single photon emitters. A brief description of the fabrication methods and a detailed quantum optical characterization of this class of diamond emitters is the subject of this presentation. In particular we will present the photo-physical properties of a novel family of single photon emitters, most likely originated from Cr impurities within the chemical vapor deposition grown nano-diamond crystals. We concentrate on the typical emission lines in the range of 740 - 790 nm, which exhibit single photon emission with count rate in the range of 0.8-3.2 106 counts/s at the limit of infinite optical excitation power, and life time as short as 1 ns. Even more, some of the emitters exhibit a photon statistics without any photon bunching, indicating a two-level system with unitary quantum efficiency. We will also show preliminary results of a resonant excitation at 4 K. We will highlight future directions to optimize these sources and avenues to investigate the fundamental properties of these centers.
We report on the observation of optically active colour centres based on Nickel-Nitrogen impurities in natural diamond samples. These emitters can efficiently generate single photons in the near infrared. Their photoluminescence is perfectly stable at room temperature and has several striking features, such as a narrow band emission around 780 nm and a short photon emission lifetime around 2 ns. We present a detailed study of their photophysical properties measured under continuous-wave excitation.
We present a detailed study of photophysical properties of single color centers in natural diamond samples emitting in the near infrared under optical excitation. Photoluminescence of these single emitters has several striking features, including narrow-band (FWHM 2 nm) fully polarized emission around 780 nm, a short excited-state lifetime of about 2 ns, and perfect photostability at room temperature under our excitation conditions. Development of a triggered single-photon source relying on this single color center is discussed for application to quantum key distribution.
We report the realization of a solid-state triggered single-photon source with narrow emission in the near infrared at room temperature. It is based on the photoluminescence of a single nickel–nitrogen NE8 colour centre in a chemical vapour deposited diamond nanocrystal. Stable single-photon emission has been observed in the photoluminescence under both continuous-wave and pulsed excitations. The realization of this source represents a step forward in the application of diamond-based single-photon sources to quantum key distribution (QKD) under practical operating conditions.