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A diamond nanowire single-photon source

2010; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 5; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/nnano.2010.6

1748-3395

Thomas M. Babinec, Birgit J. M. Hausmann, Mughees Khan, Yinan Zhang, J. R. Maze, Philip Hemmer, Marko Lončar,

Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications

The development of a robust light source that emits one photon at a time will allow new technologies such as secure communication through quantum cryptography1. Devices based on fluorescent dye molecules2, quantum dots3 and carbon nanotubes4 have been demonstrated, but none has combined a high single-photon flux with stable, room-temperature operation. Luminescent centres in diamond5,6,7,8,9 have recently emerged as a stable alternative, and, in the case of nitrogen-vacancy centres, offer spin quantum bits with optical readout10,11,12,13,14,15. However, these luminescent centres in bulk diamond crystals have the disadvantage of low photon out-coupling. Here, we demonstrate a single-photon source composed of a nitrogen-vacancy centre in a diamond nanowire, which produces ten times greater flux than bulk diamond devices, while using ten times less power. This result enables a new class of devices for photonic and quantum information processing based on nanostructured diamond, and could have a broader impact in nanoelectromechanical systems, sensing and scanning probe microscopy. Diamond nanowires can produce single photons ten times more efficiently than bulk diamond, while consuming ten times less power.