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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

Lead-Related Quantum Emitters in Diamond

Matthew E. Trusheim, Noel Wan, Girish Malladi, Kevin C. Chen, Benjamin Lienhard, H. Bakhru, Dirk Englund

Published Jan 1, 2018• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate the optical properties of quantum emitters formed in diamond after the implantation of Pb and subsequent high-temperature annealing. We find narrow-band emission in two spectral ranges, indicating multiple classes of Pb-related color centers.
DOI
10.1364/cleo_qels.2018.ftu4h.2

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We report on quantum emission from Pb-related color centers in diamond following ion implantation and high-temperature vacuum annealing. First-principles calculations predict a negatively charged Pb-vacancy (PbV) center in a split-vacancy configuration, with a zero-phonon transition around 2.4 eV. Cryogenic photoluminescence measurements performed on emitters in nanofabricated pillars reveal several transitions, including a prominent doublet near 520 nm. The splitting of this doublet, 5.7 THz, exceeds that reported for other group-IV centers. These observations are consistent with the PbV center, which is expected to have a combination of narrow optical transitions and stable spin states, making it a promising system for quantum network nodes.
Abstract We report on the systematic characterization of the optical properties of diamond color centers based on Pb impurities. An ensemble photoluminescence analysis of their spectral emission was performed at different excitation wavelengths in the 405–520 nm range and at different temperatures in the 4–300 K range. The series of observed spectral features consist of different emission lines associated with Pb-related defects. Finally, a room-temperature investigation of single-photon emitters under 490.5 nm laser excitation is reported, revealing different spectral signatures with respect to those already reported under 514 nm excitation. This work represents a substantial progress with respect to previous studies on Pb-related color centers, both in the attribution of an articulated series of spectral features and in the understanding of the formation process of this type of defect, thus clarifying the potential of this system for high-impact applications in quantum technologies.
As the field of solid-state quantum engineering matures, it is increasingly necessary to produce quantum emitters with narrow optical transitions and long spin coherence times aligned to nanophotonic structures [1]. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect center in diamond is a well-suited candidate owing to a spin ground state with a long coherence time [2], nearby nuclear spins for quantum memories [3], and spin-selective optical transitions allowing for efficient optical spin initialization and readout [4].
We report the optical observation of lead-vacancy (PbV) centers in diamond fabricated by Pb ion implantation and subsequent high-temperature annealing (2100 °C) under high pressure (7.7 GPa). Their optical properties were characterized by photoluminescence at varying temperatures down to 5.7 K. We observed intense emission peaks at 550 and 554 nm, with a large splitting of approximately 3900 GHz. The two lines are thought to correspond to the zero phonon line (ZPL) of PbV centers with split ground and excited states. A cubic trend of the ZPL width was observed while varying the temperature. We performed polarization measurements of the two lines in a single PbV center, showing nearly orthogonal dipole polarizations. These optical measurements strongly indicate that the PbV center possesses D 3 d symmetry in the diamond lattice. The observed large ground state splitting significantly suppresses the phonon-mediated transition, which causes decoherence of the electron spin state of the group IV color centers in diamond, leading to the expectation of a long spin coherence time at a temperature ∼9 K.