Coherence properties of a single dipole emitter in diamond

Abstract

On-demand, high repetition rate sources of indistinguishable, polarised single photons are the key component for future photonic quantum technologies. Colour centres in diamond offer a promising solution, and the narrow line-width of the recently identified nickel-based NE8 centre makes it particularly appealing for realising the transform-limited sources necessary for quantum interference. Here we report the characterisation of dipole orientation and coherence properties of a single NE8 colour centre in a diamond nanocrystal at room-temperature. We observe a single photon coherence time of 0.21 ps and an emission lifetime of 1.5 ns. Combined with an emission wavelength that is ideally suited for applications in existing quantum optical systems, these results show that the NE8 is a far more promising source than the more commonly studied nitrogen-vacancy centre and point the way to the realisation of a practical diamond colour centre-based single photon source.

10 pages, 4 colour figures

References in corpus (12)

• Photonic quantum technologies
• Triggered single photons from a quantum dot
• Photon antibunching in the fluorescence of individual color centers in diamond
• Anisotropic interactions of a single spin and dark-spin spectroscopy in diamond
• Nonclassical radiation from diamond nanocrystals
• Experimental realization of Dicke states of up to six qubits for multiparty quantum networking
• Strongly enhanced photon collection from diamond defect centres under micro-fabricated integrated solid immersion lenses
• Room temperature stable single-photon source
• Stable single photon source in near infrared
• Fabrication of single nickel-nitrogen defects in diamond by chemical vapor deposition
• Room temperature triggered single-photon source in the near infrared
• Low temperature optical characterization of near infrared single photon emitters in nanodiamonds

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Resonant optical spectroscopy and coherent control of Cr4+ spin ensembles in SiC and GaN
• On-chip quantum interference with heralded photons from two independent micro-ring resonator sources in silicon photonics
• Enhanced spontaneous emission from nanodiamond colour centres on opal photonic crystal
• Native NIR-emitting single colour centres in CVD diamond
• Wave-particle duality of unpolarized photons
• Photon correlation Fourier spectroscopy of a B center in hBN