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OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference

Thermometry of Solid-State Laser Refrigeration Using NV− Centers in Nanodiamonds

Siamak Dadras, Kamran Shayan, Danika R. Luntz-Martin, Robert G. Felsted, Peter J. Pauzauskie, A. Nick Vamivakas

Published Jan 1, 2020• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Cooling of solid-state quantum emitters is crucial in quantum network applications. We present electron-spin-resonance-based thermometry of NV − center quantum emitters in nanodiamonds, cooled via laser refrigeration of their Yb3+:NaYF4 substrate.
DOI
10.1364/quantum.2020.qw6a.18

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We propose a general protocol for low-control refrigeration and thermometry of thermal qubits, which can be implemented using electronic spins in diamond. The refrigeration is implemented by a probe, consisting of a network of interacting spins. The protocol involves two operations: (i) free evolution of the probe; and (ii) a swap gate between one spin in the probe and the thermal qubit we wish to cool. We show that if the initial state of the probe falls within a suitable range, and the free evolution of the probe is both unital and conserves the excitation in the zzz direction, then the cooling protocol will always succeed, with an efficiency that depends on the rate of spin dephasing and the swap-gate fidelity. Furthermore, measuring the probe after it has cooled many qubits provides an estimate of their temperature. We provide a specific example where the probe is a Heisenberg spin chain, and suggest a physical implementation using electronic spins in diamond. Here, the probe is constituted of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, while the thermal qubits are dark spins. By using a novel pulse sequence, a chain of NV centers can be made to evolve according to a Heisenberg Hamiltonian. This proposal allows for a range of applications, such as NV-based nuclear magnetic resonance of photosensitive molecules kept in a dark spot on a sample, and it opens up possibilities for the study of quantum thermodynamics, environment-assisted sensing, and many-body physics.
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Quantitative and reproducible optical characterization of single quantum emitters is crucial for quantum photonic materials research, yet accounting for measurement conditions remains challenging due to a lack of an established reference standard. We propose nanodiamonds containing single nitrogen vacancy (NV ? ) color centers as reliable, stable, and robust reference sources of single-photon emission. We select 4 potential reference emitter candidates from a study of thousands of NV ? centers. Candidates were remeasured at a second laboratory, correlating optical pump power and NV ? center emission intensity at saturation in addition to corresponding g (2) (0) values. A reference nanodiamond is demonstrated to account for experimental conditions, with reproducible and reliable single-photon emission, as a model for a new, to our knowledge, single-photon emitter reference standard.
Accurate temperature readings of transient events at the nanometer scale are challenging due to the low sensitivity of available sensors. Nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers have been used for nanoscale thermometry in complex environments, including inside living cells. However, their performance has been limited by short coherence times and low photon counts. In this work, we use isotopically-purified dual-NV nanodiamonds and a bespoke quantum sensing chip to showcase an order of magnitude improvement in temperature measurement sensitivity compared with previous reports. We demonstrate robust temperature measurements with an error of 682 μμμK, experimental sensitivities below 50 mK/√Hz\surd \text{Hz}√Hz and a shot-noise limited sensitivity of 9.6 mK/√Hz\surd \text{Hz}√Hz. To confirm the utility of these high-performance nanothermometers, we quantify the temperature change induced by the thermometry measurement itself, specifically the optical excitation laser used to probe the NV spin state. In addition, we observe directly at the nanometre scale the transient heating caused by the exothermic mixing of dimethyl sulfoxide in water. Sub-millikelvin resolution and millikelvin sensitivity thermometry unlock the possibility of monitoring minute thermal fluctuations in living systems and assessing catalyst performance at the nanometre scale.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nanodiamond are photostable single photon emitters at room temperature and are considered to be promising candidates for integrated nanophotonics and quantum information processing. A successful implementation of NV centers in nanophotonic devices requires knowledge about the photophysical properties of each emitter such as brightness, decay rate and quantum efficiency. Recent reports show that not all NV centers in diamond nanocrystals are identical and indeed show distributions in brightness and decay rate [1,2]. Here, we report on experimental quantification of the quantum efficiency (QE) of individual nanodiamonds containing single NV centers. Additionally, we report on measurements of decay rate and brightness of single nanodiamond NV centers and discuss if/which NV centers are suitable emitters to be integrated in nanophotonic devices.