Abstract We report the deterministic writing of single nitrogen-vacancy defects in commercially available high purity diamond using only laser processing. The positioning accuracy of the single defects is around 250 nm and about 20% of the written defects display near transform-limited optical transitions at a temperature of 5 K. The results represent a significant step towards defect-engineered devices using colour centres as coherent spin-photon interfaces for quantum technologies, and shed light on the physical mechanism for laser-induced vacancy diffusion in diamond.Abstract We report the deterministic writing of single nitrogen-vacancy defects in commercially available high purity diamond using only laser processing. The positioning accuracy of the single defects is around 250 nm and about 20% of the written defects display near transform-limited optical transitions at a temperature of 5 K. The results represent a significant step towards defect-engineered devices using colour centres as coherent spin-photon interfaces for quantum technologies, and shed light on the physical mechanism for laser-induced vacancy diffusion in diamond.

Materials for Quantum TechnologyNov 5, 20251 citation

Saturable absorption in defect-rich diamond nanophotonics

Christopher Coutts, Nicholas J. Sorensen, Elham Zohari +3 more

Diamond is a leading quantum photonics platform due to its ability to host qubits based on crystal defects such as nitrogen-vacancy centres. Fabricating nanophotonic devices from defect-rich diamond, which underpins many quantum sensing technologies, promises enhanced performance and integrability of diamond quantum sensors. Here we demonstrate microdisk cavities fabricated from defect-rich diamond that support optical modes with high quality factor ( ${Q}\sim7\times10^4$ at $1042\,$ nm) and show that they exhibit saturable absorption. Power-dependent spectroscopy measurements spanning 979 $\,$ nm to 1604 $\,$ nm are used to observe intensity-dependent cavity loss and extract wavelength-dependent absorption coefficients and saturation intensities. At 1047 $\,$ nm, we observe saturation and measure a saturation intensity of $2.1\,(8)\,$ MW/cm $^2$ and an absorption coefficient of $0.53\,(2)\,$ cm $^{-1}$ . These results provide insight into defect-mediated optical loss in diamond nanophotonics and suggest strategies to harness defect-induced nonlinearities in future diamond photonic devices.Diamond is a leading quantum photonics platform due to its ability to host qubits based on crystal defects such as nitrogen-vacancy centres. Fabricating nanophotonic devices from defect-rich diamond, which underpins many quantum sensing technologies, promises enhanced performance and integrability of diamond quantum sensors. Here we demonstrate microdisk cavities fabricated from defect-rich diamond that support optical modes with high quality factor (${Q}\sim7\times10^4$ at $1042\,$nm) and show that they exhibit saturable absorption. Power-dependent spectroscopy measurements spanning 979$\,$nm to 1604$\,$nm are used to observe intensity-dependent cavity loss and extract wavelength-dependent absorption coefficients and saturation intensities. At 1047$\,$nm, we observe saturation and measure a saturation intensity of $2.1\,(8)\,$MW/cm$^2$ and an absorption coefficient of $0.53\,(2)\,$cm$^{-1}$. These results provide insight into defect-mediated optical loss in diamond nanophotonics and suggest strategies to harness defect-induced nonlinearities in future diamond photonic devices.

physics.opticsCross-listedarXiv:2603.11367OpticaMar 13, 20260 citations

Color centers in diamond for quantum photonics

Petr Siyushev

Elsevier eBooksJan 1, 20250 citations

Optimized Quantum Photonics in Diamond

Constantin Dory, Dries Vercruysse, Ki Youl Yang +9 more

Bulletin of the American Physical SocietyMar 6, 20190 citations

Quantum nanophotonics with group IV defects in diamond

Carlo Bradac, Weibo Gao, J. Forneris +2 more

Diamond photonics is an ever-growing field of research driven by the prospects of harnessing diamond and its colour centres as suitable hardware for solid-state quantum applications. The last two decades have seen the field shaped by the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre with both breakthrough fundamental physics demonstrations and practical realizations. Recently however, an entire suite of other diamond defects has emerged-group IV colour centres-namely the Si-, Ge-, Sn- and Pb-vacancies. In this perspective, we highlight the leading techniques for engineering and characterizing these diamond defects, discuss the current state-of-the-art group IV-based devices and provide an outlook of the future directions the field is taking towards the realisation of solid-state quantum photonics with diamond.Diamond photonics is an ever-growing field of research driven by the prospects of harnessing diamond and its colour centres as suitable hardware for solid-state quantum applications. The last two decades have seen the field shaped by the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre with both breakthrough fundamental physics demonstrations and practical realizations. Recently however, an entire suite of other diamond defects has emerged-group IV colour centres-namely the Si-, Ge-, Sn- and Pb-vacancies. In this perspective, we highlight the leading techniques for engineering and characterizing these diamond defects, discuss the current state-of-the-art group IV-based devices and provide an outlook of the future directions the field is taking towards the realisation of solid-state quantum photonics with diamond.

Nature CommunicationsDec 9, 2019503 citations

{Q}\sim7\times10^4

1042\,

nm) and show that they exhibit saturable absorption. Power-dependent spectroscopy measurements spanning 979

\,

nm to 1604

\,

nm are used to observe intensity-dependent cavity loss and extract wavelength-dependent absorption coefficients and saturation intensities. At 1047

\,

nm, we observe saturation and measure a saturation intensity of

2.1\,(8)\,

MW/cm

^2

and an absorption coefficient of

0.53\,(2)\,

^{-1}

. These results provide insight into defect-mediated optical loss in diamond nanophotonics and suggest strategies to harness defect-induced nonlinearities in future diamond photonic devices.