Sample fabrication and metrological characterization of single-photon emitters based on nitrogen vacancy centers in nanodiamonds

authored by: Franziska Hirt, Justus Christinck, Helmuth Hofer, Beatrice Rodiek, Stefan Kück
Abstract: Quantum metrology requires a stable single-photon emission and a high single-photon purity. Since nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centers provide both features at room temperature, they are promising candidates for the application in this field [1, 2]. The knowledge about a suitable sample preparation technique is crucial, because the quality of the single-photon emission strongly depends on the sample purity and on the spatial resolvability of the emitters. This work presents the comparison and optimization of various sample fabrication techniques of nitrogen vacancy center doped nanodiamonds on standard cover glasses. The preparation is followed by a comparative characterization of the centers of the various samples. The sample fabrication includes the removal of contaminants on the cover glass surface. This was carried out by using peroxymonosulfuric acid (piranha solution, H₂SO₅) in comparison to the commercially available lye Hellmanex III (by Hellma Analytics). After cleaning the cover glasses, volumes of various nanodiamond dilutions were applied via spin coating. In subsequent steps, the nanodiamonds themselves were cleaned with peroxymonosulfuric acid, too, to remove contaminants resulting from the manufacturing process, e.g. graphite. The samples were analyzed by using a confocal laser scanning microscope with an oil immersion objective. Single-photon purity was determined by measuring the second order correlation function with a Hanbury Brown and Twiss setup. Spectral analysis revealed the presence of NV⁻- and NV°-centers. It was shown that a suitable cleansing method has an immense impact on single-photon emission, as was proven by a comparative characterization of differently manufactured nanodiamonds.
External Organisation(s): Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt PTB
Laboratory for Emerging Nanometrology Braunschweig (LENA)
Type: Article
Journal: Engineering Research Express
Volume: 3
Publication date: 02.12.2021
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Engineering
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1088/2631-8695/ac34c2 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{0aeef01c14ff49dab7a79920e275920c,
title = "Sample fabrication and metrological characterization of single-photon emitters based on nitrogen vacancy centers in nanodiamonds",
abstract = "Quantum metrology requires a stable single-photon emission and a high single-photon purity. Since nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centers provide both features at room temperature, they are promising candidates for the application in this field [1, 2]. The knowledge about a suitable sample preparation technique is crucial, because the quality of the single-photon emission strongly depends on the sample purity and on the spatial resolvability of the emitters. This work presents the comparison and optimization of various sample fabrication techniques of nitrogen vacancy center doped nanodiamonds on standard cover glasses. The preparation is followed by a comparative characterization of the centers of the various samples. The sample fabrication includes the removal of contaminants on the cover glass surface. This was carried out by using peroxymonosulfuric acid (piranha solution, H2SO5) in comparison to the commercially available lye Hellmanex III (by Hellma Analytics). After cleaning the cover glasses, volumes of various nanodiamond dilutions were applied via spin coating. In subsequent steps, the nanodiamonds themselves were cleaned with peroxymonosulfuric acid, too, to remove contaminants resulting from the manufacturing process, e.g. graphite. The samples were analyzed by using a confocal laser scanning microscope with an oil immersion objective. Single-photon purity was determined by measuring the second order correlation function with a Hanbury Brown and Twiss setup. Spectral analysis revealed the presence of NV−- and NV°-centers. It was shown that a suitable cleansing method has an immense impact on single-photon emission, as was proven by a comparative characterization of differently manufactured nanodiamonds.",
keywords = "Confocal, Metrology, Nanodiamond, Nitrogen vacancy, NV-center, Photon, Single-photon source",
author = "Franziska Hirt and Justus Christinck and Helmuth Hofer and Beatrice Rodiek and Stefan K{\"u}ck",
note = "Funding information: This work was funded by the project EMPIR-17FUN06 SIQUST. This project received funding from the EMPIR program co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Braunschweig International Graduate School of Metrology B-IGSM and the DFG Research Training Group 1952 Metrology for Complex Nanosystems. This work was also supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany{\textquoteright}s Excellence Strategy—EXC-2123 QuantumFrontiers—390837967.",
year = "2021",
month = dec,
day = "2",
doi = "10.1088/2631-8695/ac34c2",
language = "English",
volume = "3",
journal = "Engineering Research Express",
issn = "2631-8695",
publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",
number = "4",
}