A bright nanowire single photon source based on SiV centers in diamond

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to create bright, efficient single photon sources using SiV centers in diamond nanowires, advancing quantum photonics at room temperature.

Contribution

It demonstrates deterministic implantation of SiV centers in diamond nanowires, significantly improving photon out-coupling efficiency for quantum applications.

Findings

Tenfold increase in light coupling efficiency with nanowires

High conversion efficiency of Si ions to SiV- centers

Scalable method suitable for integrated photonics

Abstract

The practical implementation of many quantum technologies relies on the development of robust and bright single photon sources that operate at room temperature. The negatively charged silicon-vacancy (SiV-) color center in diamond is a possible candidate for such a single photon source. However, due to the high refraction index mismatch to air, color centers in diamond typically exhibit low photon out-coupling. An additional shortcoming is due to the random localization of native defects in the diamond sample. Here we demonstrate deterministic implantation of Si ions with high conversion efficiency to single SiV- centers, targeted to fabricated nanowires. The co-localization of single SiV- centers with the nanostructures yields a ten times higher light coupling efficiency than for single SiV- centers in bulk diamond. This enhanced photon out-coupling, together with the intrinsic scalability of the SiV- creation method, enables a new class of devices for integrated photonics and quantum science.