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Colossal photon bunching in quasiparticle-mediated nanodiamond cathodoluminescence

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2018-02-15
JournalPhysical review. B./Physical review. B
AuthorsMatthew Feldman, Eugene Dumitrescu, Denzel Bridges, Matthew F. Chisholm, Roderick B. Davidson
InstitutionsQuantum Science Center, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Citations34

Nanoscale control over the second-order photon correlation function <em>g</em><sup>(2)</sup>(Ļ„) is critical to emerging research in nonlinear nanophotonics and integrated quantum information science. Here we report on quasiparticle control of photon bunching with <em>g</em><sup>(2)</sup>(0) > 45 in the cathodoluminescence of nanodiamond nitrogen vacancy (NV<sup>0</sup>) centers excited by a converged electron beam in an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. Plasmon-mediated NV<sup>0</sup> cathodoluminescence exhibits a 16-fold increase in luminescence intensity correlated with a threefold reduction in photon bunching compared with that of uncoupled NV<sup>0</sup> centers. This effect is ascribed to the excitation of single temporally uncorrelated NV<sup>0</sup> centers by single surface plasmon polaritons. Spectrally resolved Hanbury Brown-Twiss interferometry is employed to demonstrate that the bunching is mediated by the NV<sup>0</sup> phonon sidebands, while no observable bunching is detected at the zero-phonon line. As a result, the data are consistent with fast phonon-mediated recombination dynamics, a conclusion substantiated by agreement between Bayesian regression and Monte Carlo models of superthermal NV<sup>0</sup> luminescence.

  1. 2017 - Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics