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Efficient single photon sources based on nanodiamonds on a plasmonic platform

Yen-Chun Chen, Cheng-Yen Tsai, Chun-Yuan Wang, Shangjr Gwo, Wen‐Hao Chang

Published Jan 1, 2014• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on an efficient room-temperature source of single photons based on single nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds (NDs) placing on a large-area plasmonic platform formed by crystalline gold flakes covered with a thin dielectric layer. Due to the strongly confined plasmonic fields in the thin dielectric layer, the NDs show a large enhancement in the fluorescence intensity without significant degradation in single photon purity. According to the deduced fluorescence lifetime from g(2) measurements, the Purcell factor is estimated to be ~1.4. The plasmonic platform is very ideal for large-area fluorescence enhancement without the needs of sophisticated nanopositioning schemes for locating NDs at local hot spots in conventional plasmonic nanostructures.

DOI
10.1364/cleo_qels.2014.ff2k.5

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We report on an efficient room-temperature source of single photons based on single nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds (NDs) placing on a large-area plasmonic platform formed by crystalline gold flakes covered with a thin dielectric layer. Due to the strongly confined plasmonic fields in the thin dielectric layer, the NDs show a large enhancement in the fluorescence intensity without significant degradation in single photon purity. According to the deduced fluorescence lifetime from g(2) measurements, the Purcell factor is estimated to be ~1.4. The plasmonic platform is very ideal for large-area fluorescence enhancement without the needs of sophisticated nanopositioning schemes for locating NDs at local hot spots in conventional plasmonic nanostructures.
Ultrafast emission rates obtained from quantum emitters coupled to plasmonic nanoantennas have recently opened fundamentally new possibilities in quantum information and sensing applications. Plasmonic nanoantennas greatly improve the brightness of quantum emitters by dramatically shortening their fluorescence lifetimes. Gap plasmonic nanocavities that support strongly confined modes are of particular interest for such applications. We demonstrate single-photon emission from nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nanodiamonds coupled to nanosized gap plasmonic cavities with internal mode volumes about 10 000 times smaller than the cubic vacuum wavelength. The resulting structures features sub-nanosecond NV excited-state lifetimes and detected photon rates up to 50 million counts per second. Analysis of the fluorescence saturation allows the extraction of the multi-order excitation rate enhancement provided by the nanoantenna. Efficiency analysis shows that the NV center is producing up to 0.25 billion photons per second in the far-field.
Solid-state quantum emitters are in high demand for emerging technologies such as advanced sensing and quantum information processing. Generally, these emitters are not sufficiently bright for practical applications, and a promising solution consists in coupling them to plasmonic nanostructures. Plasmonic nanostructures support broadband modes, making it possible to speed up the fluorescence emission in room-temperature emitters by several orders of magnitude. However, one has not yet achieved such a fluorescence lifetime shortening without a substantial loss in emission efficiency, largely because of strong absorption in metals and emitter bleaching. Here, we demonstrate ultrabright single-photon emission from photostable nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nanodiamonds coupled to plasmonic nanocavities made of low-loss single-crystalline silver. We observe a 70-fold difference between the average fluorescence lifetimes and a 90-fold increase in the average detected saturated intensity. The nanocavity-coupled NVs produce up to 35 million photon counts per second, several times more than the previously reported rates from room-temperature quantum emitters.
Engineering the photo-emission characteristics of single-photon emitters is crucial for the growing field of quantum technologies. We show that the photoluminescence of a single nitrogen-vacancy color center in nanodiamond could be significantly enhanced when attached to a gold film of 50 nm with preserving photophysical properties as a single photon source. The nitrogen-vacancy center on the gold film showed a decreased excited-state lifetime and a modified saturation characteristic. The photoluminescence enhancement was due to the enhanced electric field by the surface plasmon and the energy transfer from the excited state of nitrogen-vacancy centers to the surface plasmon.
Unlocking the quantum potential of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamonds has led to innovative advancements in sensing applications. By coupling NV centers with plasmonic nanostructures, ultrasensitive biolabels are envisioned. To this end, we exploit DNA self-assembly to create hybrid plasmonic nanodiamonds, featuring a closed nanocavity encapsulating a single nanodiamond. Correlated spectroscopy reveals enhanced brightness and emission rates, crucial for quantum sensing. This synergy between plasmonics and diamond fluorescence augments photon emission intensity and accelerates emission rates, enabling improved temporal resolution. These nanodiamonds hold promise as stable single-photon sources and versatile platforms for probing quantum effects in biology. This talk highlights the development, properties, and potential applications of these nanodiamonds, bridging quantum sensing and biomedicine, and fostering transformative changes in biophotonics.
Colour centres in nanodiamonds provide robust sources of fluorescence and can be used as triggered sources of single photons at room temperature. However, practical devices require stability over thousands of hours of operation, and the use of strong pulsed optical excitation, placing significant burden on the robustness of the emitters that requires bespoke testing. In this work we report the response of single NV centres in nanodiamonds of 50 nm and 100 nm diameter to accelerated lifetime testing, exciting the defects close to saturation around 1013 times to simulate the minimum operational lifetime of a practical device. For nanodiamonds 50 nm in diameter, observed changes in the fluorescence intensity and lifetime suggest a progressive size reduction as a result of the pulsed laser excitation, combined with the introduction of non-radiative centres on or near the nanodiamond surface which affect the quantum efficiency of the NV centre and ultimately lead to photobleaching of the emission. We find examples of NV centres in 100 nm nanodiamonds for which triggered single photon emission remains stable for over these accelerated lifetime tests, demonstrating their suitability for use in practical devices.