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arXiv:cond-mat/0411245 · Applied Physics Letters

Fabrication of single nickel-nitrogen defects in diamond by chemical vapor deposition

J. R. Rabeau, Y. L. Chin, Steven Prawer, Fedor Jelezko, T. Gaebel, Jörg Wrachtrup

Published Mar 25, 2005• 126 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Fabrication of single nickel-nitrogen (NE8) defect centers in diamond by chemical vapor deposition is demonstrated. Under continuous-wave 745nm laser excitation single defects were induced to emit single photon pulses at 797nm with a linewidth of 1.5nm at room temperature. Photon antibunching of single centers was demonstrated using a Hanbury–Brown and Twiss interferometer. Confocal images revealed approximately 106 optically active sites∕cm2 in the synthesized films. The controlled fabrication of an NE8 based single photon source in synthetic diamond is important for fiber based quantum cryptography, and potentially linear optics quantum computing.

DOI
10.1063/1.1896088

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Fabrication of single nickel-nitrogen (NE8) defect centers in diamond by chemical vapor deposition is demonstrated. Under continuous-wave 745nm laser excitation single defects were induced to emit single photon pulses at 797nm with a linewidth of 1.5nm at room temperature. Photon antibunching of single centers was demonstrated using a Hanbury–Brown and Twiss interferometer. Confocal images revealed approximately 106 optically active sites∕cm2 in the synthesized films. The controlled fabrication of an NE8 based single photon source in synthetic diamond is important for fiber based quantum cryptography, and potentially linear optics quantum computing.
Owing to their unsurpassed photostability, defects in solids may be ideal candidates for single-photon sources. Here we report on generation of single photons by optical excitation of a yet unexplored defect in diamond, the nickel–nitrogen complex (NE8) centre. The most striking feature of the defect is its emission bandwidth of 1.2 nm at room temperature. The emission wavelength of the defect is around 800 nm, which is suitable for telecom fibres. In addition, in this spectral region little background light from the diamond bulk material is detected. Consequently, a high contrast in antibunching measurements is achieved.
Individual color centers in diamond are promising for near-term quantum technologies including quantum key distribution and metrology. Here we show fabrication of an as-yet uncharacterized nickel-related complex in diamond which has photophysical properties surpassing the two main-stay centers for single-photon applications, namely, the nitrogen-vacancy and the nickel-nitrogen complex (NE8) center. This center was fabricated using focused ion-beam implantation of nickel into isolated chemical vapor-deposited diamond crystals. A possible correlation of the center to a Ni/Si complex is substantiated by a coimplantation of Ni and Si into a pure bulk diamond. Room-temperature photoluminescence studies reveal a narrow emission in the near infrared region centered at 768 nm with a lifetime as short as 2 ns.
The photoluminescence of a single nickel–nitrogen NE8 color center in a diamond nanocrystal is investigated at room temperature under pulsed excitation by scanning confocal optical microscopy. Photon arrival times are analyzed in terms of the temporal intensity correlation function. Antibunching at short times and bunching behavior for longer times is observed, associated with sub- and super-Poissonian statistics, respectively. The behavior is interpreted by a ‘on–off’ state model, and transition rates between these two states are inferred from intensity correlation measurements realized at different excitation powers. NE8 color center photoluminescence quantum yield is evaluated to be 65%, a value higher than achieved for a nitrogen-vacancy color center, which is, up to now, the most practical single emitter to build a reliable single-photon source at room temperature.
Fluorescent emitters in diamond are considered to be a valuable resource for fields such as quantum communication, quantum photonics, and biological imaging. In this paper, we report a wide range of narrow bandwidth ( ~ 1.5 nm) spectral emission lines arising from different color centers at room temperature. The defects were created by chemical vapor deposition of thin diamond films grown on silica substrates seeded with nanoparticles of diamond and nickel. These fluorescent lines also possess single or few centers photon statistics. We correlate the zero-phonon lines, observed using confocal microscopy, with previously identified nickel-related centers which have been observed in high-pressure high-temperature diamond, with a Si/Ni complex and silicon vacancy defects. We compare our findings with recent results demonstrating single-photon emission in diamond associated with nickel-related centers to clarify and summarize previous studies concerning this specific dopant. The great variety of emission lines observed in the synthesized material, mainly associated with nickel-related centers, could be an important resource for applications relying on the presence of several emitters of single photons in the same sample. Moreover, the possibility of mass production of these centers in nanodiamonds in colloidal suspension may provide an important resource for biomarking and microscopy.
Fluorescent emitters in nanodiamonds are considered to be a valuable resource for emerging fields such as quantum communication, quantum photonics and biological imaging. In this paper we report a wide range of narrow bandwidth spectral emission lines arising from different color centers at room temperature. We associate the zero phonon lines, observed using confocal microscopy, with previously identified nickel-related centers in high pressure high temperature diamond, with a Si/Ni complex and silicon vacancy defects. In particular we show the first observation of a 850 nm emission in diamond with single photon signature, indicating the potential for diamond to harbor infrared single-photon sources. Index Terms diamond defects, single-photon emission, confocal microscopy.
We report the realization of a solid-state triggered single-photon source with narrow emission in the near infrared at room temperature. It is based on the photoluminescence of a single nickel–nitrogen NE8 colour centre in a chemical vapour deposited diamond nanocrystal. Stable single-photon emission has been observed in the photoluminescence under both continuous-wave and pulsed excitations. The realization of this source represents a step forward in the application of diamond-based single-photon sources to quantum key distribution (QKD) under practical operating conditions.