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      Stimulated emission from nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond

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          Abstract

          Stimulated emission is the process fundamental to laser operation, thereby producing coherent photon output. Despite negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV ) centres being discussed as a potential laser medium since the 1980s, there have been no definitive observations of stimulated emission from ensembles of NV to date. Here we show both theoretical and experimental evidence for stimulated emission from NV using light in the phonon sidebands around 700 nm. Furthermore, we show the transition from stimulated emission to photoionization as the stimulating laser wavelength is reduced from 700 to 620 nm. While lasing at the zero-phonon line is suppressed by ionization, our results open the possibility of diamond lasers based on NV centres, tuneable over the phonon sideband. This broadens the applications of NV magnetometers from single centre nanoscale sensors to a new generation of ultra-precise ensemble laser sensors, which exploit the contrast and signal amplification of a lasing system.

          Abstract

          Here Jeske et al. show both theoretical and experimental evidence for stimulated emission from negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centres using light in the phonon sidebands around 700 nm, demonstrating its suitability as a laser medium.

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          Most cited references17

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          Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond: nanoscale sensors for physics and biology.

          Crystal defects in diamond have emerged as unique objects for a variety of applications, both because they are very stable and because they have interesting optical properties. Embedded in nanocrystals, they can serve, for example, as robust single-photon sources or as fluorescent biomarkers of unlimited photostability and low cytotoxicity. The most fascinating aspect, however, is the ability of some crystal defects, most prominently the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center, to locally detect and measure a number of physical quantities, such as magnetic and electric fields. This metrology capacity is based on the quantum mechanical interactions of the defect's spin state. In this review, we introduce the new and rapidly evolving field of nanoscale sensing based on single NV centers in diamond. We give a concise overview of the basic properties of diamond, from synthesis to electronic and magnetic properties of embedded NV centers. We describe in detail how single NV centers can be harnessed for nanoscale sensing, including the physical quantities that may be detected, expected sensitivities, and the most common measurement protocols. We conclude by highlighting a number of the diverse and exciting applications that may be enabled by these novel sensors, ranging from measurements of ion concentrations and membrane potentials to nanoscale thermometry and single-spin nuclear magnetic resonance.
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            Efficient readout of a single spin state in diamond via spin-to-charge conversion.

            Efficient readout of individual electronic spins associated with atomlike impurities in the solid state is essential for applications in quantum information processing and quantum metrology. We demonstrate a new method for efficient spin readout of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The method is based on conversion of the electronic spin state of the NV to a charge-state distribution, followed by single-shot readout of the charge state. Conversion is achieved through a spin-dependent photoionization process in diamond at room temperature. Using NVs in nanofabricated diamond beams, we demonstrate that the resulting spin readout noise is within a factor of 3 of the spin projection noise level. Applications of this technique for nanoscale magnetic sensing are discussed.
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              Optically Controlled Switching of the Charge State of a Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond at Cryogenic Temperatures

              In this Letter, the photoinduced switching of the single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center between two different charge states, negative (NV(-)) and neutral (NV(0)), is studied under resonant excitation at liquid helium temperature. We show that resonant conversion of NV(0) to NV(-) significantly improves spectral stability of the NV(-) defect and allows high fidelity initialization of the spin qubit. Based on density functional theory calculations a novel mechanism involving an Auger ionization of NV(-) and charge transfer of an electron from the valence band to NV(0) is discussed. This study provides further insight into the charge dynamics of the NV center, which is relevant for quantum information processing based on an NV(-) defect in diamond.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Nat Commun
                Nat Commun
                Nature Communications
                Nature Publishing Group
                2041-1723
                27 January 2017
                2017
                : 8
                : 14000
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Chemical and Quantum Physics, School of Science, RMIT University , Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia
                [2 ]ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics, School of Science, RMIT University , Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia
                [3 ]ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University , North Ryde Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
                [4 ]Institut für Quantenoptik, Universität Ulm , Albert Einstein Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany
                [5 ]School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville , Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
                [6 ]Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University , Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
                [7 ]National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology , Takasaki, Gunma 370-1292, Japan
                Author notes
                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5473-6481
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7850-3164
                Article
                ncomms14000
                10.1038/ncomms14000
                5290152
                28128228
                9ccdaaad-9e50-48f1-b680-7776b4437fdd
                Copyright © 2017, The Author(s)

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

                History
                : 20 March 2016
                : 21 November 2016
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