The nitrogen-vacancy colour centre in diamond

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) colour centre in diamond is an important physical system for emergent quantum technologies, including quantum metrology, information processing and communications, as well as for various nanotechnologies, such as biological and sub-diffraction limit imaging, and for tests of entanglement in quantum mechanics. Given this array of existing and potential applications and the almost 50 years of NV research, one would expect that the physics of the centre is well understood, however, the study of the NV centre has proved challenging, with many early assertions now believed false and many remaining issues yet to be resolved. This review represents the first time that the key empirical and ab initio results have been extracted from the extensive NV literature and assembled into one consistent picture of the current understanding of the centre. As a result, the key unresolved issues concerning the NV centre are identified and the possible avenues for their resolution are examined.     

YAG晶体色心的EPR谱

本文描述了8种YAG样品的室温和77K的EPR谱.从这些谱的参数与光谱的实验数据对照,认为晶体中有三种顺磁性的色心,其中g～2.00和g～1.98两条顺磁谱相应于光谱2×10~4cm~(-1)～3.4×10~4cm~(-1)的吸收带,为YAG基质晶体中的缺陷俘获一个电子构成的电子型缺陷中心;而 g～30.60的顺磁谱线与氧空位和掺杂的金属离子Mg~(2+) 、Cr~(3+)有关,推测为氧空位团或氧空位与金属离子构成的S>1/2的复合顺磁中心缺陷.YAG晶体随着在大气氛中高温退火,氧的进入和金属离子的掺入,造成电子和空间体积的不平衡,从而使晶体色心浓度加大.     

Nanoscale detection of faint machinery vibration using the NV center in diamond

We propose a novel method for detection of the faint machinery vibration at the nanometer resolution based on the spin magnetic resonant effect. A suspension magnet acts as a vibration sensor to transfer the vibration signals as the magnetic field fluctuation to excite the spin magnetic resonance. Due to the high sensitivity of the magnetic field of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, the theoretical detection limit of mechanical vibration is as high as 5.7 nm, and the actual measurement resolution reached 12.8 nm, and proved the potential for further improvement to ∼pm resolution. The feasibility of this method is verified by dynamic tests. This method provides a novel approach for the detection of micro-mechanical vibrations.     

金刚石氮空位色心体系的量子纠缠态制备

利用金刚石氮空位色心体系耦合于一个双边的光子晶体腔(该光子晶体腔与两个波导耦合)来制备Bell态、GHZ态和团簇态。当光子被探测和进行幺正操作后,就得到纠缠态。同时计算了该体系的保真度,发现在近似参数条件下,该模型可得到较好结果。     

金刚石集群NV色心的光谱特征及浓度定量分析

金刚石NV-色心具有优越的光致发光特性,可实现高灵敏度物理量探测。其中,NV-色心的浓度是影响其宏观领域物理量探测灵敏度的重要因素之一。分析了金刚石在NV-色心制备过程中产生的发光缺陷,研究了不同的电子注入剂量与NV-色心浓度的关系。首先,对金刚石进行电子辐照并高温真空退火,制备了NV-色心;然后,利用拉曼光谱仪测试了金刚石在电子辐照前、电子辐照后及退火后三个阶段中的荧光光谱,分析了金刚石在NV-色心制备过程中的光谱特性;最后,对生成的NV-色心的浓度进行了估算,并探究了不同电子注入剂量对NV-色心浓度的影响规律。结果表明,金刚石经电子注入后生成了524.7,541.1,578和648.1 nm发光中心。其中,HPHT合成金刚石经电子注入后普遍存在524.7 nm中心。电子注入后的金刚石经高温(≥800 ℃)真空(≥10-7 Pa)退火后,空位自由移动,不稳定的缺陷消失,当空位靠近氮原子时被束缚而形成氮空位色心。对于氮含量100 ppm的金刚石,当电子注入产生的空位含量小于120 ppm(2.1×1019 cm-3)时,NV-色心浓度与电子注入生成空位的含量的关系符合Boltzmann分布。该研究为利用氮含量100 ppm的金刚石实现定量NV-色心浓度的制备提供了参考依据,为NV-色心在宏观物理量精密测量的应用奠定了基础。     

Hole burning—EIT studies of the NV centre in diamond

The negative nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond is used to illustrate electromagnetically induced transparency features within a coherent hole. A hole is created in an inhomogeneously broadened electron spin transition and its spectrum modified by driving hyperfine transitions. The modified spectrum is discussed in terms of dressed states of the system, and the spectrum is shown to be in good correspondence with numerical solutions of the density matrix for the doubly driven system.     

高能电子照射绝缘样品的泄漏电流特性

建立了考虑电子散射、输运、俘获和自洽场的数值计算模型, 研究了高能电子束照射下绝缘厚样品的泄漏电流特性, 并采用一个实验平台测量了泄漏电流. 结果表明: 在电子束持续照射下, 电子总产额会下降; 由于电子在样品内部的输运, 样品近表面呈现微弱的正带电, 在样品内部呈现较强的负带电; 样品内部电子会向下输运形成电子束感生电流, 长时间照射下会形成泄漏电流; 随着照射, 泄漏电流逐渐增大并趋于稳定值; 泄漏电流随样品厚度的增大而减小, 随电子束能量、电子束电流的增大而增大. 关键词： 绝缘样品 泄漏电流 电子产额 数值模拟     

Effects of preheating on diaspore: Modifications in colour centres, structure and light emission

The thermal properties and thermal stability of diaspore-corundum (AlOOH-Al₂O₃), from Goian (Pontevedra, Spain) were studied by means of differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetry (TG), high temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) and thermally stimulated luminescence (TL) techniques. The samples were annealed to link the combined effect of (i) dehydroxylation, (ii) oxidation-reduction of chromophores (Mn 0.5%, Fe₂O₃ 0.12%, TiO₂ 0.021% and Cr 80 ppm) determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and (iii) phase transitions whilst sample heating (i.e. α-AlOOH→α′-Al₂P₃→α-Al₂O₃). The blue colour of diaspore, attributed to the Ti⁴⁺-Fe²⁺ intervalence-charge-transfer mechanism, turns to white (circa 500 °C) in good agreement with the DTA endothermic peak (dehydroxylation). The coexistence of α-AlOOH and α′-Al₂P₃ phases has been detected by in situ HTXRD and could be correlated to the thermoluminescence tests performed on preheated aliquots (up to 500 °C).     

高能电子辐照绝缘厚样品的表面电位动态特性

采用数值计算和实验测量相结合的方法, 阐明了高能电子束照射下绝缘厚样品的表面电位和电子产额动态特性. 结果表明: 由于电子在样品内部的散射和输运, 沿着深度方向, 空间电位先缓慢下降到最小值, 然后逐渐升高并趋近于零; 随着电子束照射, 样品的表面电位逐渐下降, 可至负千伏量级, 电子总产额逐渐增大至一个接近于1的稳定值; 电子束停止照射后, 长时间放置下, 表面电位将逐渐升高, 但带电并不会消除; 表面电位随电子束能量的升高近似线性下降, 随入射角的增大而升高, 而随样品厚度的增大仅略有下降.     

Depth distribution profiles of colour centers produced in alkali halides by electron irradiation

Depth distributions of colour centers produced in 〈100〉 KCl crystals by irradiation with 1.0 and 2.0 MeV electrons were measured. A distinct anisotropy in the depth distributions of the optical colouration density as well in the F- and M-center density was observed.     

Modification of magnetic anisotropy in metallic glasses using high-energy ion beam irradiation

Heavy ion irradiation in the electronic stopping power region induces macroscopic dimensional change in metallic glasses and introduces magnetic anisotropy in some magnetic materials. The present work is on the irradiation study of ferromagnetic metallic glasses, where both dimensional change and modification of magnetic anisotropy are expected. Magnetic anisotropy was measured using Mössbauer spectroscopy of virgin and irradiated Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ metallic glass ribbons. 90 MeV ¹²⁷I beam was used for the irradiations. Irradiation doses were 5×10¹³ and 7.5×10¹³ ions/cm². The relative intensity ratios D ₂₃ of the second and third lines of the Mössbauer spectra were measured to determine the magnetic anisotropy. The virgin samples of both the materials display in-plane magnetic anisotropy, i.e., the spins are oriented parallel to the ribbon plane. Irradiation is found to cause reduction in magnetic anisotropy. Near-complete randomization of magnetic moments is observed at high irradiation doses. Correlation is found between the residual stresses introduced by ion irradiation and the change in magnetic anisotropy.     

光致发光光谱研究金刚石光学中心的振动结构

金刚石中不同的缺陷中心具有不同的振动结构. 间隙原子相关中心在离开零声子线165 meV之外存在强且尖锐的局部振动模; 空位相关中心具有很强的振动耦合, 在其零声子线之后出现很强且宽的声子边带, 而在165 meV之外却观察不到局部振动模, 且对于仅涉及一个空位的缺陷来说, 其振动都与一个能量约为42 meV的声子或一个能量约为67 meV的声子或两声子有关.     

Time-resolved optical spectroscopy of CsI(Tl) crystals by pulsed electron beam irradiation

Properties of the color and emission centers induced with an electron pulse beam at temperature within 80-300 K have been studied in CsI(Tl) crystals. It has been established by optical spectrometry with time resolution that initial color centers in this crystal are only Tl⁰ and V_k centers, which spontaneously recombine emitting visible light at 2.25 and 2.55 eV. It has been shown that the emission decay kinetics at 80 K include two fast exponential components with decay constants 3 and 14 μs as well as slow hyperbolic component with the power index depending on the wavelength of the emitting light. The temperature effect on the emission kinetics has been studied and it has been directly proved that the emission rise stage at the temperature above 170 K is caused by the recombination of electrons, which are thermally released from single Tl⁰ centers, with V_kA centers. The origin of scintillations in CsI(Tl) crystal is discussed in terms of the tunnel electron transitions from ground state of Tl⁰ centers to ground state of V_k centers at different distances from each other.     

Triple resonance investigation of F centres in BaFCl

Abstract

In BaFCl two types of F centres can be produced, where the electron occupies a Cl^? vacancy [F(Cl^?)-centres] or an F^? vacancy [F(F^?)-centres]. When producing F(F^?)-centres the simultaneous production of F(Cl^?)-centres cannot be avoided. Both ESR spectra overlap strongly. The ENDOR spectra contain very many lines of both centres and have a very complicated angular dependence. It is shown that the angular dependence of the ENDOR spectra of both F centres can be measured separately by applying a double ENDOR technique (called also Triple Resonance). The ratio of the signal heights of the ENDOR lines compared to the double ENDOR lines is characteristic for the neighbour shell to which the nuclei involved belong. The use of this effect for the analysis of the spectra and its explanation are discussed.     

On the production of paramagnetic defects in silicon by electron irradiation

Monocrystalline silicon samples of different impurity contents have been irradiated with 1.5 MeV electrons in order to produce divacancies in their negative charge state. In these samples different combinations of defects have been observed with electron paramagnetic resonance. The conditions for production and observation of these defects are compared. For two new EPR spectra, labelled (Si-) NL11 and (Si-) NL12, the spin Hamiltonian parameters are reported. For NL11, which arises from an S = 1 spin state, the obvious identification with the neutral charge state of the divacancy can not be confirmed.     

Stabilization of H centres in irradiated LiF:Mg crystals

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to investigation of possible ways of stabilization of the H centres created together with F and Mg⁺ centres in a process of decay of selftrapped exciton. As a main mode of the H centres stabilizationa capture of the H centre by magnesium-vacancy dipole and creation of V-type centre was suggested. This process was theoretically studied in the frames of model of molecular cluster which electron structure was calculated by the semi-empirical version of the Hartree-Fock method. For experimental corroboration of this process the relations between dependences of magnesium dipoles decrease on dose of gamma irradiation and corresponding dose dependences of the Mg⁺, Mg°, and F centres radiation creation were used.     

Online optimization for optical readout of a single electron spin in diamond

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond has been developed as a promising platform for quantum sensing, especially for magnetic field measurements in the nano-tesla range with a nano-meter resolution. Optical spin readout performance has a direct effect on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of experiments. In this work, we introduce an online optimization method to customize the laser waveform for readout. Both simulations and experiments reveal that our new scheme optimizes the optically detected magnetic resonance in NV center. The SNR of optical spin readout has been witnessed a 44.1% increase in experiments. In addition, we applied the scheme to the Rabi oscillation experiment, which shows an improvement of 46.0% in contrast and a reduction of 12.1% in mean deviation compared to traditional constant laser power SNR optimization. This scheme is promising to improve sensitivities for a wide range of NV-based applications in the future.     

Photoionization processes in F aggregate centres of LiF crystal

Extensive studies have been carried out on the optical conversion of F and F-aggregate colour centres produced in lithium fluoride single crystal on gamma irradiation. Using 308 nm XeCl laser it has been shown that significantly large population build-up of F ₃ ⁺ centre and reduction in the population of undesirable F₂ centres can be achieved in gamma irradiated crystal at room temperature due to multistep photoionization processes. These and other investigations have provided a scheme for possible laser action based on F ₃ ⁺ colour centres in LiF crystal at room temperature.     

Influence of high-energy electron irradiation on field emission properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) films

The effect of very high energy electron beam irradiation on the field emission characteristics of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been investigated. The MWCNTs films deposited on silicon (Si) substrates were irradiated with 6 MeV electron beam at different fluence of 1×10¹⁵, 2×10¹⁵ and 3×10¹⁵ electrons/cm². The irradiated films were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and micro-Raman spectrometer. The SEM analysis clearly revealed a change in surface morphology of the films upon irradiation. The Raman spectra of the irradiated films show structural damage caused by the interaction of high-energy electrons. The field emission studies were carried out in a planar diode configuration at the base pressure of ∼1×10⁻⁸ mbar. The values of the threshold field, required to draw an emission current density of ∼1 μA/cm², are found to be ∼0.52, 1.9, 1.3 and 0.8 V/μm for untreated, irradiated with fluence of 1×10¹⁵, 2×10¹⁵ and 3×10¹⁵ electrons/cm². The irradiated films exhibit better emission current stability as compared to the untreated film. The improved field emission properties of the irradiated films have been attributed to the structural damage as revealed from the Raman studies.     

Oscillator strength of F2 − colour centres in LiF crystal

The absorption cross-section integral and the oscillator strength of the 960 nm absorption band due to F₂ ^– colour centres in LiF crystal is determined at room temperature from the absorption cross-section spectrum of the F₂ ^– centres obtained from saturable absorption studies. A comparison with previous results is made.