Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T08:46:43.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Quantum emitters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2012

Lukas Novotny
Affiliation:
University of Rochester, New York and ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Bert Hecht
Affiliation:
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
Get access

Summary

The interaction of light with nanoscale structures is at the core of nano-optics. As the structures become smaller and smaller the laws of quantum mechanics will become apparent. In this limit, the discrete nature of atomic states gives rise to resonant light-matter interactions. In atoms, molecules, and nanoparticles, such as semiconductor nanocrystals and other “quantum confined” systems, these resonances occur when the photon energy matches the energy difference of discrete internal (electronic) energy levels. Owing to the resonant character, light-matter interaction can often be approximated by treating these quantum emitters as effective two-level systems, i.e. by considering only those two (electronic) levels whose difference in energy is close to the interacting photon energy ħω0.

In this chapter we discuss quantum emitters that are used in optical experiments. We will discuss their use as single-photon sources and analyze their photon statistics. While the radiative properties of quantum emitters have been discussed in Chapter 8, this chapter focuses on the properties of the quantum emitters themselves. We adopt a rather practical perspective since more detailed accounts can be found elsewhere (see e.g. [1–4]).

Types of quantum emitters

The possibility of detecting single quantum emitters optically relies mostly on the fact that redshifted emission can be very efficiently discriminated against excitation light [5, 6]. This opens the road for experiments in which the properties of these emitters are studied or in which they are used as discrete light sources.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] L., Mandel and E., Wolf, Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1995).Google Scholar
[2] C., Cohen-Tannoudji, J., Dupont-Roc, and G., Grynberg, Atom–Photon Interactions. New York: Wiley (1998).Google Scholar
[3] A., Yariv, Quantum Electronics. New York: Wiley (1975).Google Scholar
[4] R., Loudon, The Quantum Theory of Light. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1983).Google Scholar
[5] T., Basché, W., Moerner, M., Orrit, and U., Wild (eds.), Single-Molecule Optical Detection, Imaging and Spectroscopy. Weinheim: VCH Verlagsgesellschaft (1997).
[6] R. K. C., Zander and J., Enderlein (eds.), Single-Molecule Detection in Solution. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH Verlag (2002).
[7] J. R., Zurita-Sanchez and L., Novotny, “Multipolar interband absorption in a semiconductor quantum dot: I. Electric quadrupole enhancement,” J. Opt. Soc. Am.B 19, 1355–1362 (2002).Google Scholar
[8] H., Haken and H. C., Wolf, Molecular Physics and Elements of Quantum Chemistry. Hamburg: Springer-Verlag (2004).Google Scholar
[9] Th., Christ, F., Kulzer, P., Bordat, and Th., Basch, “Watching the photooxidation of a single molecule,” Angew. Chem. 113, 4323–4326 (2001) and Angew Chem. Int. Edn. Engl. 40, 4192–4195 (2001).Google Scholar
[10] L. E., Brus, “Electron–electron and electron–hole interactions in small semiconductor crystallites: the size dependence of the lowest excited electronic state,” J. Chem. Phys. 80, 4403–4409 (1984).Google Scholar
[11] M., Nirmal, D. J., Norris, M., Kuno, et al., “Observation of the ‘dark exciton’ in CdSe quantum dots,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3728–3731 (1995).Google Scholar
[12] J., Zheng, C., Zhang, and R. M., Dickson, “Highly fluorescent, water-soluble, sizetunable gold quantum dots,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 077402–1 (2004).Google Scholar
[13] I. N., Stranski and V. L., Krastanow, Akad. Wiss. Lit. Mainz Math.-natur. Kl. IIb 146, 797–810 (1939).
[14] S. A., Empedocles, R., Neuhauser, and M. G., Bawendi, “Three-dimensional orientation measurements of symmetric single chromophores using polarization microscopy,” Nature 399, 126–130 (1999).Google Scholar
[15] F., Koberling, U., Kolb, I., Potapova, et al., “Fluorescence anisotropy and crystal structure of individual semiconductor nanocrystals,” J. Phys. Chem.B 107, 7463–7471 (2003).Google Scholar
[16] X., Li, Y., Wu, D., Steel, et al., “An all-optical quantum gate in a semiconductor quantum dot,” Science 301, 809–811 (2003).Google Scholar
[17] A. M., Zaitev, “Vibronic spectra of impurity-related centers in diamond,” Phys. Rev.B 61, 12909–12922 (2000).Google Scholar
[18] A. M., Zaitev, Optical Properties of Diamond. A Data Handbook. Berlin: Springer Verlag (2001).Google Scholar
[19] A., Krüger, Carbon Materials and Nanotechnology. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH (2010).Google Scholar
[20] F., Jelezko Image courtesy of Fedor Jelezko and Jörg Wrachtrup.
[21] F., Jelezko and J., Wrachtrup, “Single defect centers in diamond: a review,” Phys. Stat. Sol. (a) 203, 3207–3225 (2006).Google Scholar
[22] I., Aharonovich, A. D., Greentree, and S., Prawer, “Diamond photonics,” Nature Photonics 5, 397–405 (2011).Google Scholar
[23] C., Bradac, T., Gaebel, N., Naidoo, et al., “Observation and control of blinking nitrogen-vacancy centres in discrete nanodiamonds,” Nature Nanotechnol. 5, 345–349 (2010).Google Scholar
[24] J., Wrachtrup and F., Jelezko, “Processing quantum information in diamond,” J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 18, S807–S824 (2006).Google Scholar
[25] L. G., Rogers, S., Armstrong, M. J., Sellars, and N. B., Manson, “Infrared emission of the NV centre in diamond: Zeeman and uniaxial stress studies,” New J. Phys. 10, 103024 (2008).Google Scholar
[26] E., Rittweger, K. Y., Han, S. E., Irvine, C., Eggeling, and S.W., Hell, “STED microscopy reveals crystal colour centres with nanometric resolution,” Nature Photonics 3, 144–147 (2009). Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd.Google Scholar
[27] C., Bohren and D., Huffman, Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles. New York: John Wiley & Sons (1983).Google Scholar
[28] N., Gisin, G., Ribordy, W., Tittel, and H., Zbinden, “Quantum cryptography,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 145–195 (2002).Google Scholar
[29] S., Reynaud, Ann. Phys. (Paris) 8, 351 (1983).
[30] G., Arfken and H., Weber, Mathematical Methods for Physicists. London: Academic Press (1995).Google Scholar
[31] R., Hanbury-Brown and R. Q., Twiss, “Correlation between photons in two coherent beams of light,” Nature 177, 27–29 (1956).Google Scholar
[32] L., Fleury, J.M., Segura, G., Zumofena, B., Hecht, and U. P., Wild, “Nonclassical photon statistics in single-molecule fluorescence at room temperature,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1148–1151 (2000).Google Scholar
[33] B., Lounis and W. E., Moerner, “Single photons on demand from a single molecule at room temperature,” Nature 407, 491–493 (2000).Google Scholar
[34] B., Sick, B., Hecht, and L., Novotny, “Orientational imaging of single molecules by annular illumination,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4482–4485 (2000).Google Scholar
[35] L., Novotny, M., Beversluis, K., Youngworth, and T., Brown, “Longitudinal field modes probed by single molecules,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5251–5254 (2001).Google Scholar
[36] E., Betzig and R., Chichester, “Single molecules observed by near-field scanning optical microscopy,” Science 262, 1422–1425 (1993).Google Scholar
[37] J. A., Veerman, M. F., García-Parajó, L., Kuipers, and N. F., van Hulst, “Single molecule mapping of the optical field distribution of probes for near-field microscopy,” J. Microsc. 194, 477–482 (1999).Google Scholar
[38] H. G., Frey, S., Witt, K., Felderer, and R., Guckenberger, “High-resolution imaging of single fluorescent molecules with the optical near-field of a metal tip,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 200801 (2004).Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Quantum emitters
  • Lukas Novotny, Bert Hecht, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
  • Book: Principles of Nano-Optics
  • Online publication: 05 November 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511794193.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Quantum emitters
  • Lukas Novotny, Bert Hecht, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
  • Book: Principles of Nano-Optics
  • Online publication: 05 November 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511794193.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Quantum emitters
  • Lukas Novotny, Bert Hecht, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
  • Book: Principles of Nano-Optics
  • Online publication: 05 November 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511794193.011
Available formats
×