Abstract
Superradiance (SR) is a cooperative phenomenon which occurs when an ensemble of quantum emitters couples collectively to a mode of the electromagnetic field as a single, massive dipole that radiates photons at an enhanced rate. Previous studies on solid-state systems either reported SR from sizeable crystals with at least one spatial dimension much larger than the wavelength of the light and/or only close to liquid-helium temperatures. Here, we report the observation of room-temperature superradiance from single, highly luminescent diamond nanocrystals with spatial dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of light, and each containing a large number (~ 103) of embedded nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres. The results pave the way towards a systematic study of SR in a well-controlled, solid-state quantum system at room temperature.
Highlights
Superradiance (SR) is a cooperative phenomenon which occurs when an ensemble of quantum emitters couples collectively to a mode of the electromagnetic field as a single, massive dipole that radiates photons at an enhanced rate
The separation in energy (1.945 eV) between the ground and the excited states (3A−3A) corresponds to a zero phonon line (ZPL) at 637 nm, followed by characteristic phononic sidebands associated with local vibrational modes
It should be noted that previous studies reported a decrease in the lifetimes of NVs for centres produced via low-energy He-ion irradiation, with the decay time decreasing for increasing ion doses. This effect has been attributed to increased damage in the crystal lattice which provides nonradiative decay paths with faster dynamics[16, 17]. This is inconsistent with our observations where we found that higher peak fluorescence correlated to faster decay rates (Supplementary Note 5)—the exact opposite of what would be expected if the shortening of the lifetimes was due to non-radiative, dark pathways
Summary
Superradiance (SR) is a cooperative phenomenon which occurs when an ensemble of quantum emitters couples collectively to a mode of the electromagnetic field as a single, massive dipole that radiates photons at an enhanced rate. We report the observation of room-temperature superradiance from single, highly luminescent diamond nanocrystals with spatial dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of light, and each containing a large number (~ 103) of embedded nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres. Local dephasing mechanisms, such as coupling to short-wavelength phonons and coupling to electric fields arising from ionisation or other local defects, can have a detrimental effect on the cooperative behaviour of a system It is the simultaneous requirement of high emitter density and low local decoherence that has made SR challenging to observe at room temperature in solid-state or atomic systems. We report the observation of room-temperature superradiance from single, highly luminescent nanodiamonds (NDs) with spatial dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of light, and each containing a large number (~ 103) of embedded NV centres. Quantum engineering of superradiance in diamond could have applications in quantum sensing, energy harvesting and efficient photon detection[10]
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