651 research outputs found
Engineering chromium related single photon emitters in single crystal diamond
Color centers in diamond as single photon emitters, are leading candidates
for future quantum devices due to their room temperature operation and
photostability. The recently discovered chromium related centers are
particularly attractive since they possess narrow bandwidth emission and a very
short lifetime. In this paper we investigate the fabrication methodologies to
engineer these centers in monolithic diamond. We show that the emitters can be
successfully fabricated by ion implantation of chromium in conjunction with
oxygen or sulfur. Furthermore, our results indicate that the background
nitrogen concentration is an important parameter, which governs the probability
of success to generate these centers.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Creating diamond color centers for quantum optical applications
Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have distinct promise as solid-state
qubits. This is because of their large dipole moment, convenient level
structure and very long room-temperature coherence times. In general, a
combination of ion irradiation and subsequent annealing is used to create the
centers, however for the rigorous demands of quantum computing all processes
need to be optimized, and decoherence due to the residual damage caused by the
implantation process itself must be mitigated. To that end we have studied
photoluminescence (PL) from NV, NV and GR1 centers formed by ion
implantation of 2MeV He ions over a wide range of fluences. The sample was
annealed at C to minimize residual vacancy diffusion, allowing for
the concurrent analysis of PL from NV centers and irradiation induced vacancies
(GR1). We find non-monotic PL intensities with increasing ion fluence,
monotonic increasing PL in NV/NV and GR1/(NV + NV) ratios, and
increasing inhomogeneous broadening of the zero-phonon lines with increasing
ion fluence. All these results shed important light on the optimal formation
conditions for NV qubits. We apply our findings to an off-resonant photonic
quantum memory scheme using vibronic sidebands
Room temperature triggered single-photon source in the near infrared
We report the realization of a solid-state triggered single-photon source
with narrow emission in the near infrared at room temperature. It is based on
the photoluminescence of a single nickel-nitrogen NE8 colour centre in a
chemical vapour deposited diamond nanocrystal. Stable single-photon emission
has been observed in the photoluminescence under both continuous-wave and
pulsed excitations. The realization of this source represents a step forward in
the application of diamond-based single-photon sources to Quantum Key
Distribution (QKD) under practical operating conditions.Comment: 10 page
Boosting up quantum key distribution by learning statistics of practical single photon sources
We propose a simple quantum-key-distribution (QKD) scheme for practical
single photon sources (SPSs), which works even with a moderate suppression of
the second-order correlation of the source. The scheme utilizes a
passive preparation of a decoy state by monitoring a fraction of the signal via
an additional beam splitter and a detector at the sender's side to monitor
photon number splitting attacks. We show that the achievable distance increases
with the precision with which the sub-Poissonian tendency is confirmed in
higher photon number distribution of the source, rather than with actual
suppression of the multi-photon emission events. We present an example of the
secure key generation rate in the case of a poor SPS with , in
which no secure key is produced with the conventional QKD scheme, and show that
learning the photon-number distribution up to several numbers is sufficient for
achieving almost the same achievable distance as that of an ideal SPS.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; published version in New J. Phy
Simplified Quantum Process Tomography
We propose and evaluate experimentally an approach to quantum process
tomography that completely removes the scaling problem plaguing the standard
approach. The key to this simplification is the incorporation of prior
knowledge of the class of physical interactions involved in generating the
dynamics, which reduces the problem to one of parameter estimation. This allows
part of the problem to be tackled using efficient convex methods, which, when
coupled with a constraint on some parameters allows globally optimal estimates
for the Kraus operators to be determined from experimental data. Parameterising
the maps provides further advantages: it allows the incorporation of mixed
states of the environment as well as some initial correlation between the
system and environment, both of which are common physical situations following
excitation of the system away from thermal equilibrium. Although the approach
is not universal, in cases where it is valid it returns a complete set of
positive maps for the dynamical evolution of a quantum system at all times.Comment: Added references to interesting related work by Bendersky et a
Enhanced spontaneous emission from nanodiamond colour centres on opal photonic crystal
Colour centres in diamond are promising candidates as a platform for quantum
technologies and biomedical imaging based on spins and/or photons. Controlling
the emission properties of colour centres in diamond is a key requirement for
developing efficient single photon sources with high collection efficiency. A
number of groups have produced enhancement in the emission rate over narrow
wavelength ranges by coupling single emitters in nanodiamond crystals to
resonant electromagnetic structures. Here we characterise in detail the
spontaneous emission rates of nitrogen-vacancy centres positioned in various
locations on a structured substrate. We show an average factor of 1.5
enhancement of the total emission rate when nanodiamonds are on an opal
photonic crystal surface, and observe changes in the lifetime distribution. We
present a model to explain these observations and associate the lifetime
properties with dipole orientation and polarization effects.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
NV center emission in a substrate free low index environment
With in-built advantages (high quantum efficiency and room temperature photostability1) for deployment in quantum technologies as a bright on-demand source of single photons, the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center is the most widely studied optical defect in diamond. Despite significant success in controlling its spontaneous emission2, the fundamental understanding of its photo-physics in various environments and host material remains incomplete. Studying NV photoemission from nanodiamonds on a glass substrate, we recently pointed out a disparity between the measured and calculated decay rates (assuming near unity quantum efficiency)3. This indicates the presence of some strong nonradiative influences from factors most likely intrinsic to nanodiamond itself. To obtain a clearer picture of the NV emission, here we remove the substrate contributions to the decay rates by embedding our nanodiamonds inside silica aerogel, a substrate-free environment of effective index n ∼ 1.05. Nanodiamond doped aerogel samples were fabricated using the two-step process4. Time-resolved fluorescence measurement on ∼20 centers for both coverslip and aerogel configurations, showed an increase in the mean lifetime (∼37%) and narrowing of the distribution width (∼40%) in the aerogel environment, which we associate with the absence of a air/cover-glass interface near the radiating dipoles3. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) calculations showed the strong influence of the irregular nanodiamond geometry on the remaining distribution width. Finally a comparison between measurements and calculations provides an estimate of the quantum efficiency of the nanodiamond NV emitters as ∼0.7. This value is apparently consistent with recent reports concerning the oscillation of the NV center between negative and neutral charge states5. © 2013 SPIE
Prevalence and correlates of depressive disorders in people with Type 2 diabetes: results from the International Prevalence and Treatment of Diabetes and Depression (INTERPRET‐DD) study, a collaborative study carried out in 14 countries
Aims
To assess the prevalence and management of depressive disorders in people with Type 2 diabetes in different countries.
Methods
People with diabetes aged 18–65 years and treated in outpatient settings were recruited in 14 countries and underwent a psychiatric interview. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Problem Areas in Diabetes scale. Demographic and medical record data were collected.
Results
A total of 2783 people with Type 2 diabetes (45.3% men, mean duration of diabetes 8.8 years) participated. Overall, 10.6% were diagnosed with current major depressive disorder and 17.0% reported moderate to severe levels of depressive symptomatology (Patient Health Questionnaire scores >9). Multivariable analyses showed that, after controlling for country, current major depressive disorder was significantly associated with gender (women) (PPPPP<0.0001). The proportion of those with either current major depressive disorder or moderate to severe levels of depressive symptomatology who had a diagnosis or any treatment for their depression recorded in their medical records was extremely low and non-existent in many countries (0–29.6%).
Conclusions
Our international study, the largest of this type ever undertaken, shows that people with diabetes frequently have depressive disorders and also significant levels of depressive symptoms. Our findings indicate that the identification and appropriate care for psychological and psychiatric problems is not the norm and suggest a lack of the comprehensive approach to diabetes management that is needed to improve clinical outcomes
Stark shift control of single optical centers in diamond
Lifetime limited optical excitation lines of single nitrogen vacancy (NV) defect centers in diamond have been observed at liquid helium temperature. They display unprecedented spectral stability over many seconds and excitation cycles. Spectral tuning of the spin selective optical resonances was performed via the application of an external electric field (i.e. the Stark shift). A rich variety of Stark shifts were observed including linear as well as quadratic components. The ability to tune the excitation lines of single NV centers has potential applications in quantum information processing
Implantation of labelled single nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond using 15N
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) color centers in diamond were created by implantation
of 7 keV 15N (I = 1/2) ions into type IIa diamond. Optically detected magnetic
resonance was employed to measure the hyperfine coupling of the NV- centers.
The hyperfine spectrum from 15NV- arising from implanted 15N can be
distinguished from 14NV- centers created by native 14N (I = 1) sites. Analysis
indicates 1 in 40 implanted 15N atoms give rise to an optically observable
15NV- center. This report ultimately demonstrates a mechanism by which the
yield of NV- center formation by nitrogen implantation can be measured.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Applied Physics Letter
- …