2017/05/04 by Sebastian K. H. Andersen, Shailesh Kumar, Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi · 94 citations
Chemistry · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #Center (category theory) #Chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Crystallography #Dimer #Materials science #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Nanotechnology #Nitrogen-vacancy center #Nuclear magnetic resonance #Optics #Photon #Photonic and Optical Devices #Physics #Vacancy defect #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01436
published in Nano Letters 17(6), 3889-3895 (American Chemical Society)
openalex publication_date 2017/05/04 · arxiv created 2017/06/29 · arxiv updated 2017/08/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We demonstrate an exceptionally bright photon source based on a single nitrogen-vacancy center (NV center) in a nanodiamond (ND) placed in the nanoscale gap between two monocrystalline silver cubes in a dimer configuration. The system is operated near saturation at a stable photon rate of 850 kcps, while we further achieve strongly polarized emission and high single photon purity, evident by the measured autocorrelation with a g (2) (0) value of 0.08. These photon source features are key parameters for quantum technological applications, such as secure communication based on quantum key distribution. The cube antenna is assembled with an atomic force microscope, which allows us to predetermine the dipole orientation of the NV center and optimize cube positioning accordingly, while also tracking the evolution of emission parameters from isolated ND to the one- and two-cube configuration. The experiment is well described by finite element modeling, assuming an instrinsic quantum efficiency of 0.35. We attribute the large photon rate of the assembled photon source, to increased quantum efficiency of the NV center and high antenna efficiency.