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Enhancing Optical Readout from Diamond AFM Tips for Quantum Nanosensing

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2018-10-22
JournalACS Photonics
AuthorsSumin Choi, Victor Leong, G. Alagappan, Leonid A. Krivitsky
InstitutionsInstitute of High Performance Computing, Data Storage Institute
Citations17

Color centers in diamond are promising candidates for quantum nanosensing\napplications. The efficient collection of the optical signal is the key to\nachieving high sensitivity and resolution, but it is limited by the collection\noptics. Embedding the color centers in diamond microstructures can help to\nenhance the collection efficiency, but often require challenging fabrication\nand integration. Here we investigate the photoluminescence (PL) of\nsilicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in commercially available atomic force microscope\n(AFM) diamond pyramid (DP) tips. We find that the DP geometry efficiently\nchannels PL emitted at the DP apex towards the base, where we experimentally\ndemonstrate an enhanced PL collection of up to 8 times higher compared to other\ndirections. Our experimental observations are in good agreement with numerical\nsimulations using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Our results\nindicate that AFM tips could be an economical, efficient and straightforward\nway of implementing color-center-based nanosensing as they provide enhanced\nsensitivity and easy integration with existing AFM platforms.\n