arXiv · 2511.01279
Super-resolved reconstruction of single-photon emitter locations from $g^{(2)}(0)$ maps
Abstract
Single-photon sources are vital for emerging quantum technologies. In particular, Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are promising due to their room-temperature stability, long spin coherence, and compatibility with nanophotonic structures. A key challenge, however, is the reliable identification of isolated NV centers, since conventional confocal microscopy is diffraction-limited and cannot resolve emitter distributions within a focal spot. Besides, the associated intensity scanning is a time-expensive procedure. Here, we introduce a raster-scanned $g^{(2)}(0)$ mapping technique combined with an inversion-based reconstruction algorithm. By directly measuring local photon antibunching across the field of view, we extract the effective emitter number within each focal spot and reconstruct occupancy maps on a sub-focal-spot grid. This enables recovery of the number and spatial distribution of emitters within regions smaller than the confocal focal spot, thereby offering possibilities of going beyond the diffraction limit. Our simulations confirm robust reconstruction of NV-center distributions. The method provides a practical diagnostic tool for locating single-photon sources in an efficient and accurate manner, at much lesser time and effort compared to conventional intensity scanning. It offers valuable feedback for nanophotonic device fabrication, supporting more precise and scalable integration of NV-based quantum photonic technologies.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Sonali Gupta, Amit Kumar, Vikas S Bhat, Sushil Mujumdar. 2025-11-03. Super-resolved reconstruction of single-photon emitter locations from $g^{(2)}(0)$ maps. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.01279
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.