Nanoscale Sensing Using Point Defects in Single-Crystal Diamond: Recent Progress on Nitrogen Vacancy Center-Based Sensors

Individual, luminescent point defects in solids so called color centers are atomic-sized quantum systems enabling sensing and imaging with nanoscale spatial resolution. In this overview, we introduce nanoscale sensing based on individual nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. We discuss two central challenges of the field: First, the creation of highly-coherent, shallow NV centers less than 10 nm below the surface of single-crystal diamond. Second, the fabrication of tip-like photonic nanostructures that enable efficient fluorescence collection and can be used for scanning probe imaging based on color centers with nanoscale resolution.Comment: Overview paper on sensing with defects in diamond, we focus on creation of shallow NV centers and nanostructures, Final Version published in Crystal

Interfacing single photons and single quantum dots with photonic nanostructures

Photonic nanostructures provide means of tailoring the interaction between light and matter and the past decade has witnessed a tremendous experimental and theoretical progress in this subject. In particular, the combination with semiconductor quantum dots has proven successful. This manuscript reviews quantum optics with excitons in single quantum dots embedded in photonic nanostructures. The ability to engineer the light-matter interaction strength in integrated photonic nanostructures enables a range of fundamental quantum-electrodynamics experiments on, e.g., spontaneous-emission control, modified Lamb shifts, and enhanced dipole-dipole interaction. Furthermore, highly efficient single-photon sources and giant photon nonlinearities may be implemented with immediate applications for photonic quantum-information processing. The review summarizes the general theoretical framework of photon emission including the role of dephasing processes, and applies it to photonic nanostructures of current interest, such as photonic-crystal cavities and waveguides, dielectric nanowires, and plasmonic waveguides. The introduced concepts are generally applicable in quantum nanophotonics and apply to a large extent also to other quantum emitters, such as molecules, nitrogen vacancy ceters, or atoms. Finally, the progress and future prospects of applications in quantum-information processing are considered.Comment: Updated version resubmitted to Reviews of Modern Physic

Nanoscale Sensing Using Point Defects in Single-Crystal Diamond: Recent Progress on Nitrogen Vacancy Center-Based Sensors

Individual, luminescent point defects in solids, so-called color centers, are atomic-sized quantum systems enabling sensing and imaging with nanoscale spatial resolution. In this overview, we introduce nanoscale sensing based on individual nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. We discuss two central challenges of the field: first, the creation of highly-coherent, shallow NV centers less than 10 nm below the surface of a single-crystal diamond; second, the fabrication of tip-like photonic nanostructures that enable efficient fluorescence collection and can be used for scanning probe imaging based on color centers with nanoscale resolution