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Quantum Photonic Devices

Color centres in diamond from single photon sources to ODMR in cells

Marco Genovese, Ekaterina V. Moreva, P. Traina, J. Forneris, Sviatoslav Ditalia Tchernij, Federico Picollo, Ivo Pietro Degiovanni, Valentina Carabelli, P. Olivero

Published Sep 11, 2018• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Color centres in diamond represent a very interesting system for realizing single photon emitters, even at room temperature, in particular are attracting an ever-growing interest in quantum optics, quantum information and quantum sensing, due to their appealing photo-physical properties combined with ease of access and manipulation in a solid state system characterized by high transparency and structural stability. Literally hundreds of optically active color centers can be created and controlled in the diamond matrix, to be employed either as bright and stable single-photon sources or individual spin systems with optical readout, with record performances even at room temperature. In concurrence with the remarkable results obtained at the state of the art on the exploitation of the unique properties of the negatively-charged nitrogen-vacancy complex (NV), new and appealing color centers are continuously being discovered and characterized. In the present contribution, the most recent results obtained by a collaboration among the Italian National Institutes of Metrologic Research (INRiM), the University of Torino and the Italian National Institutes of Nuclear Physics (INFN) will be overviewed and critically assessed in their future perspectives.

DOI
10.1117/12.2323102

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Color centres in diamond represent a very interesting system for realizing single photon emitters, even at room temperature, in particular are attracting an ever-growing interest in quantum optics, quantum information and quantum sensing, due to their appealing photo-physical properties combined with ease of access and manipulation in a solid state system characterized by high transparency and structural stability. Literally hundreds of optically active color centers can be created and controlled in the diamond matrix, to be employed either as bright and stable single-photon sources or individual spin systems with optical readout, with record performances even at room temperature. In concurrence with the remarkable results obtained at the state of the art on the exploitation of the unique properties of the negatively-charged nitrogen-vacancy complex (NV), new and appealing color centers are continuously being discovered and characterized. In the present contribution, the most recent results obtained by a collaboration among the Italian National Institutes of Metrologic Research (INRiM), the University of Torino and the Italian National Institutes of Nuclear Physics (INFN) will be overviewed and critically assessed in their future perspectives.
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.
Optical sources that deliver single photons on demand play a key role in quantum cryptography and optical quantum computations. At present, color centers in wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) and silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in diamond, are considered to be the most promising candidates for practical quantum information applications owing to their unique emission properties at room temperature. However, for practical reasons, single-photon sources should be pumped electrically, which is required for integrability, scalability, and energy efficiency. However, diamond and related wide-bandgap semiconductor materials are at the interface between insulators and semiconductors, which makes electrical excitation of color centers very challenging. Here, we report on our progress in the understanding of single-photon electroluminescence of color centers in diamond, discuss different factors affecting the brightness of these emitter under electrical excitation, and study how to improve the performance of electrically- pumped single-photon sources based on color centers in diamond.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond have emerged as a focal point in quantum technology research due to their exceptional optical and electronic spin properties. This discovery not only expands our understanding of the material properties of diamond but also paves the way for practical applications in quantum technology. As a solid-state spin quantum system characterized by long electron spin coherence times and stable performance, NV color centers offer distinct advantages in quantum information processing. Recent advancements have enabled the fabrication of high-quality NV color centers with controllable concentration and spatial positioning through techniques such as in situ doping, ion implantation, and hybrid approaches. These technological breakthroughs have significantly enhanced the efficiency of NV center fabrication, thereby establishing a robust foundation for their widespread application in quantum sensing and quantum information technologies. This review provides a compre­hensive introduction to the structure and fundamental properties of NV color centers in diamond, an in-depth analysis of recent progress in their fabrication techniques, and a critical discussion of their current applications in quantum science and technology. Additionally, the challenges, open questions, and future research directions in NV color center studies are addressed.
The development of reliable devices to generate single photons is crucial for applications in quantum cryptography, as well as for fundamental quantum optics experiments. Due to their extremely high photostability at room temperature, optically active defects in solids, the so called color centers, are among the most promising candidates. Single NV (nitrogen-vacancy) centers in diamond have been demonstrated to be able to generate single photons and have already shown advantages compared to attenuated laser pulses in a quantum cryptography experiment. The nitrogen-vacancy center (NV center) in diamond consists of a substitutional nitrogen atom and an adjacent vacancy. This complex exhibits an optical transition with a fluorescence lifetime of 11.6 ns. The room temperature spectrum of the NV center consists of the zero-phonon line at 637 nm and broad phononic sidebands with a FWHM of more than 100 nm. Due to the existence of a shelving level the efficiency of the NV center as a single photon source is limited. Additionally, the high diffraction index of bulk diamond restricts the efficiency to collect the fluorescence light.
The nanodiamond technology has developed the first packaged, single-photon source that operates at room temperature and in well-lit environments, where an ideal single-photon source produces one photon per pulse. These sources are key components for building quantum information systems that can implement quantum-key distribution (QKD) for ultrasecure communications. The optically active color centers in diamond have been found to exhibit attractive optical properties through the nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) center emission ranging 600 to 750 nm, and that have realized the practical sources of single-photon emission. Photo statistics has to be determined to measure the performance of a single-photon source, which can be measured by the autocorrelation function g2 (0) using Hanbury-Brown and Twiss interferometer. The results showed that the SPS 1.01 demonstrates stable single-photon performance without requirement of recalibration.