Comparison of back focal plane imaging of nitrogen vacancy centers in nanodiamond and core-shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots

J Christinck,H Georgieva,S Kück,B Rodiek,H Hofer,S Götzinger,M López

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2149/1/012014

Abstract

We report on the characterization of the angular-dependent emission of two different single-photon emitters based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamond and on core-shell CdSe/CdS quantum dot nanoparticles. The emitters were characterized in a confocal microscope setup by spectroscopy and Hanbury-Brown and Twiss interferometry. The angular-dependent emission is measured using a back focal plane imaging technique. A theoretical model of the angular emission patterns of the 2D dipoles of the emitters is developed to determine their orientation. Experiment and model agree well with each other.

Highlights

For the applications of single-photon sources, e.g., the calibration of a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detector, a stable single-photon emitter with high single-photon rate at least in the several 105 photons/s range is needed
We report on the characterization of the angular-dependent emission of two different single-photon emitters based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamond and on core-shell CdSe/CdS quantum dot nanoparticles
Both types of emitters were characterized in a confocal microscope setup, see Figure 1, using an excitation laser operating at a wavelength of 532 nm and an oil-immersion objective with a numerical aperture (NA) of 1.4 for the quantum dots and 1.45 for the NV-centers

Summary

Introduction

For the applications of single-photon sources, e.g., the calibration of a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detector, a stable single-photon emitter with high single-photon rate at least in the several 105 photons/s range is needed. One candidate for this is the nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) center in diamond [14]. A single-photon source based on an NV-center in a nanodiamond has already been absolutely characterized with respect to its photon flux and its spectral photon rate density [3]. A sufficient single-photon rate at the detector is 330.000 photons/s, see [8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion