Nanodiamond Photoemitters Based On Strong Narrow-band Luminescence From Silicon-vacancy Defects

摘要

Single-photon emission (SPE) was first observed from single atoms and ions in traps and from molecules. More recently, semiconductor quantum dots and photoactive point defects, such as nitrogen-vacancy (N-V), silicon-vacancy (Si-V), and nickel-nitrogen complexes in diamond have been used in SPE experiments. Among the array of luminescent nanomater-ials, point defects (color centers) in diamond seem to be the most-promising single-photon source for quantum-physics applications, such as optics, information processing, and cryptography. This is due to the remarkable photoemission properties of the defects, such as their extraordinary stability at room temperature and their high quantum efficiency (typically >0.1), which are combined with the unique chemical and mechanical properties of the diamond material itself.