Diamond nanocrystals hosting single nitrogen-vacancy color centers sorted by photon-correlation near-field microscopy.
Diamond nanocrystals containing highly photoluminescent color centers are attractive, nonclassical, and near-field light sources. For near-field applications, the size of the nanocrystal is crucial, since it defines the optical resolution. Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers are efficiently created by proton irradiation and annealing of a nanodiamond powder. Using near-field microscopy and photon statistics measurements, we show that nanodiamonds with sizes down to 25 nm can hold a single NV color center with bright and stable photoluminescence.
Sonnefraud
Yannick
Y
Institut Néel, CNRS and Université Joseph Fourier, BP166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex, France.
Cuche
Aurélien
A
Faklaris
Orestis
O
Boudou
Jean-Paul
JP
Sauvage
Thierry
T
Roch
Jean-François
JF
Treussart
François
F
Huant
Serge
S
D003460:Crystallization; D004867:Equipment Design; D008422:Materials Testing; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015336:Molecular Probe Techniques; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D049329:Nanostructures; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D010316:Particle Size; D017785:Photons; D013997:Time Factors
D009584:Nitrogen