Loading an Optical Trap with Diamond Nanocrystals Containing Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers from a Surface

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple method to load diamond nanocrystals with nitrogen-vacancy centers into an optical trap using a burn-and-trap technique in air, enabling easier study of their photoluminescent properties.

Contribution

A novel, straightforward approach for trapping diamond nanocrystals with NV centers in air using a burn-and-trap method, facilitating research on their optical properties.

Findings

Successful trapping of diamond nanocrystals demonstrated by PL spectra.

High sensitivity of PL to excitation laser confirms presence of NV centers.

Method enables convenient study of NV centers in trapped nanocrystals.

Abstract

We present a simple and effective method of loading particles into an optical trap in air at atmospheric pressure. Material which is highly absorptive at the trapping laser wavelength, such as tartrazine dye, is used as media to attach photoluminescent diamond nanocrystals. The mix is burnt into a cloud of air-borne particles as the material is swept near the trapping laser focus on a glass slide. Particles are then trapped with the laser used for burning or transferred to a second laser trap at a different wavelength. Evidence of successfully loading diamond nanocrystals into the trap presented includes high sensitivity of the photoluminecscence (PL) to an excitation laser at 520~nm wavelength and the PL spectra of the optically trapped particles. This method provides a convenient technique for the study of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers contained in optically trapped diamond nanocrystals.