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Journal of Physics Conference Series

Luminescent nanodiamonds as a material platform for production of single photon emitters

Igor I. Vlasov, Евгений Алексеевич Екимов, Oleg S. Kudryavtsev, Olga A. Shenderova, Mathias H. Metsch, Fedor Jelezko

Published Sep 1, 2018• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The prospects of using individual nanodiamond particles as a source of single photons were studied for diamonds of various origin. It was shown that the single photon emitters could be produced on a base of "nitrogen-vacancy" centers in detonation nanodiamond synthesized from graphite-hexogen mixture. Studying meteoritic NDs we have found that single photon emitters based on "silicon-vacancy" centers could be realized even in molecular-sized diamond (less than 2 nm). Currently we are developing a new class of diamond materials, nanodiamonds synthesized from organic compounds at high pressure. In particular, we have demonstrated the possibility of synthesis of nanodiamond from its molecular analogue adamantane, controlling the size of crystallites in a wide range by changing synthesis temperature. A minimum size of obtained diamond particles about 3 nm was reached. Crystal structure of such diamonds is the most perfect in comparison with other classes of diamond materials, therefore they are the most promising material platform for production of single photon emitters.

DOI
10.1088/1742-6596/1092/1/012160

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The prospects of using individual nanodiamond particles as a source of single photons were studied for diamonds of various origin. It was shown that the single photon emitters could be produced on a base of "nitrogen-vacancy" centers in detonation nanodiamond synthesized from graphite-hexogen mixture. Studying meteoritic NDs we have found that single photon emitters based on "silicon-vacancy" centers could be realized even in molecular-sized diamond (less than 2 nm). Currently we are developing a new class of diamond materials, nanodiamonds synthesized from organic compounds at high pressure. In particular, we have demonstrated the possibility of synthesis of nanodiamond from its molecular analogue adamantane, controlling the size of crystallites in a wide range by changing synthesis temperature. A minimum size of obtained diamond particles about 3 nm was reached. Crystal structure of such diamonds is the most perfect in comparison with other classes of diamond materials, therefore they are the most promising material platform for production of single photon emitters.
Abstract Single photon sources (SPSs) are one of the key components in quantum communication technology. Here we report on the development of a new approach to the controlled formation of SPSs in nanodiamonds synthesized from hydrocarbons at high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). The conditions of HPHT synthesis were determined, allowing for the highly efficient production of scalable single-photon emitters based on single silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in individual diamond particles of 250-300 nm in size. A new type of SPSs, emitting in a wide spectral range (500-800 nm) at room temperature, was found in hydrogen-terminated nanodiamonds. The recorded rate of the SPS emission exceeds 1 million photons per second. The HPHT nanodiamonds containing both SiV and the new emitters are a promising material for quantum photonics applications.
Luminescence properties of single color centers were studied in nanodiamonds of different origin. It was found that single photon emitters could be realized even in molecularsized diamond (less than 2 nm) capable of housing stable luminescent center “silicon-vacancy.” First results on incorporation of single-photon emitters based on luminescent nanodiamonds in plasmonic nanoantennas to enhance the photon count rate and directionality, diminish the fluorescence decay time, and provide polarization selectivity are presented.
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.
Direct integration of single photon emitters into easy-to-fabricate functional microstructures is a major step towards a future quantum optical technology. Because of its photostability and versatile spin properties the nitrogen vacancy center (NV center) in diamond is one of the most promising candidates as source of single photons [1]. One of its drawbacks lies in the properties of its host crystal. Diamond is hard to process and therefore it is difficult to manufacture complex integrated structures in a reliable way. One way to avoid these difficulties is to use nanodiamonds in a so called hybrid approach [2]. Hybrid systems comprise different constituents from different materials. By exploiting the individual advantages of the individual elements it is possible to build systems with properties exceeding the properties of the individual subsystems.
Luminescent diamond of technological importance primarily originates from synthetic material as opposed to natural diamond. Detonation synthesis is an ideal method for bottom-up synthesis of nanoscale particulate diamond at large scale; it is unfortunately not currently suitable for the production of luminescent diamond hosting optical centers. Electron beam irradiation is a widely used approach for introducing vacancies in diamond particles. Optical centers in diamond are exceptional candidates for next generation solid-state quantum sensors. Techniques to produce synthetic diamond can be grouped into two broad categories: static synthesis and dynamic synthesis. High pressure high temperature synthesis attempts to mimic the growth conditions of natural diamonds formed deep within the Earth’s mantle. Chemical vapor deposition diamond is produced via plasma assisted growth on a heated substrate at either atmospheric or, reduced pressure using a gas phase carbon precursor in hydrogen. Quantum sensing enabled by optical centers in diamond primarily relies on magnetic interactions associated with the optical center and their surrounding environments.
Ultrasmall (about 10 nm), low-strain, artificially produced diamonds with an internal, active color center have substantial potential for quantum information processing and biomedical applications. Thus, it is of great importance to be able to artificially produce such diamonds. Here, we report on the high-pressure, high-temperature synthesis of such nanodiamonds about 10 nm in size and containing an optically active, single silicon-vacancy color center. Using special sample preparation technique, we were able to prepare samples containing single nanodiamonds on the surface. By correlating atomic-force microscope images and confocal optical images, we verified the presence of optically active color centers in single nanocrystals, and using second-order correlation measurements, we proved the single-photon emission statistics of these nanodiamonds. These color centers have nonblinking, spectrally narrow emission with narrow distribution of spectral width and positions of zero-phonon line, thus proving the high quality of the nanodiamonds produced.