Using low-cost Blu-Ray Optical Pickup Units for Measurement of Single Photon Emission from NV-Centers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a low-cost, simplified method for detecting single photon emissions from NV-centers using Blu-ray optical pickup units, making quantum light sources more accessible for research and education.

Contribution

It demonstrates that affordable Blu-ray pickup units can replace traditional confocal microscope components for single photon detection in quantum experiments.

Findings

Cost-effective single photon measurement setup developed

Enables educational and research applications with standard components

Shows compatibility with industry processes for quantum light sources

Abstract

This work presents a cost-effective method for collecting single photons emitted from single nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds. Conventional components of a confocal laser-scanning microscope, such as microscope objectives and the piezo translation stages, are replaced by two affordable Blu-ray optical pickup units. A Hanbury Brown and Twiss setup is used to identify single photon emission. The proposed approach is inexpensive and simple and lowers the entry-level to single photon research for quantum technologies. This enables student lab experiments or demonstration experiments at schools and shows that efficient sources of quantum light can be made from standard components compatible with established industry processes.