Patel, N; Dejen, B; Church, S; Dolan, P; Parkinson, P (2025) Nitrogen-vacancy color centers in nanodiamonds as reference single-photon emitters. Optics Express, 33 (12). 25159 ISSN 1094-4087

Preview

Text eid10348.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

Quantitative and reproducible optical characterization of single quantum emitters is crucial for quantum photonic materials research, yet accounting for measurement conditions remains challenging due to a lack of an established reference standard. We propose nanodiamonds containing single nitrogen vacancy (NV ¯ ) color centers as reliable, stable, and robust reference sources of single-photon emission. We select 4 potential reference emitter candidates from a study of thousands of NV ¯ centers. Candidates were remeasured at a second laboratory, correlating optical pump power and NV ¯ center emission intensity at saturation in addition to corresponding g (2) (0) values. A reference nanodiamond is demonstrated to account for experimental conditions, with reproducible and reliable single-photon emission, as a model for a new, to our knowledge, single-photon emitter reference standard.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	nitrogen vacancy centre, single-photon emitter
Subjects:	Quantum Phenomena > Quantum Information Processing and Communication
Divisions:	Quantum Technologies
Identification number/DOI:	10.1364/OE.564082
Last Modified:	23 Mar 2026 15:03
URI:	https://eprintspublications.npl.co.uk/id/eprint/10348