arXiv subjects

Andrew D Greentree

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew D Greentree.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Nitrogen-Vacancy Emission from Nanodiamond: Size, Depth, and Surroundings

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a leading solid-state quantum emitter, offering spin-photon interfaces over a wide temperature range with applications from electromagnetic sensing to bioimaging. While NV centers in bulk diamond are well understood, embedding them in nanodiamond (ND) introduces complexities from size, NV location, and NV polarizations. NVs in ND show altered fluorescence properties including longer lifetimes, lower quantum efficiency, and higher sensitivity to dielectric surroundings, which arise from radiative suppression, surface-induced non-radiative decay, and escape inefficiency at the diamond-background interface. Prior models typically addressed isolated aspects, such as dielectric contrast or surface quenching, without integrating full quantum-optical NV behavior with classical electrodynamics. We present a hybrid framework coupling rigorous electromagnetic simulations with a quantum-optical NV model including phonon sideband dynamics. NV emission is found to depend strongly on ND size, NV position, and surrounding refractive index. Our results explain observations such as shallow NVs in water-coated ND appearing brighter than deeper ones in air. This integrated model provides a unified framework for realistic NV in ND emission scenarios and informs the design of efficient NV-based sensors and quantum devices, advancing understanding of quantum emitter photophysics in nanoscale crystals.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Magnetic field Characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators

Quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators are materials with nontrivial topological properties, characterized by helical edge currents. In 2D strips, the application of a bias voltage along the edge generates a magnetization that can be measured using quantum sensors and magnetometry techniques. In this work, we calculate the magnetic field in the vicinity of the edge and explore the potential role of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond as local probes for the characterization of QSH edge states in topological insulators. We characterize the magnetic field near the edges produced by both electron currents and spin accumulation at the edge. We focus on identifying the position from the edge at which the effects of spin accumulation become detectable. We observe that a larger gap between the conduction and valence bands, along with a lower Fermi velocity, results in a stronger magnetic field, with the detectable spin accumulation being more concentrated near the edge. Conversely, a smaller gap results in a slight reduction in the magnetic field magnitude, but the field associated with spin accumulation becomes detectable further from the edge. This work provides insights that could be useful for the characterization of topological materials and the development of novel electro-optical devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Optical forces and torques on eccentric nanoscale core-shell particles

The optical trapping and manipulation of small particles is an important tool for probing fluid properties at the microscale. In particular, microrheology exploits the manipulation and rotation of micron-scale particles to probe local viscosity, especially where these properties may be perturbed as a function of their local environment, for example in the vicinity of cells. To this end, birefringent particles are useful as they can be readily controlled using optically induced forces and torques, and thereby used to probe their local environment. However the magnitude of optical torques that can be induced in birefringent particles is small, and a function of the particle diameter, meaning that rotational flow cannot readily be probed on length scales much small than the micron level. Here we show modelling that demonstrates that eccentric spherical core-shell nanoparticles can be used to generate considerable optical torques. The eccentricity is a result of the displacement of the centre of the core from the shell. Our results show that, for particles ranging from 90~nm to 180~nm in diameter, we may achieve rotation rates exceeding 800~Hz. This fills a missing size gap in the rotation of microparticles with optical forces. The diameter of particle we may rotate is almost an order of magnitude smaller than the smallest birefringent particles that have been successfully rotated to date. The rotation of eccentric core-shell nanoparticles therefore makes an important contribution to biophotonics and creates new opportunities for rheology in nanoscale environments.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Spin coherent quantum transport of electrons between defects in diamond

The nitrogen-vacancy color center in diamond has rapidly emerged as an important solid-state system for quantum information processing. While individual spin registers have been used to implement small-scale diamond quantum computing, the realization of a large-scale device requires development of an on-chip quantum bus for transporting information between distant qubits. Here we propose a method for coherent quantum transport of an electron and its spin state between distant NV centers. Transport is achieved by the implementation of spatial stimulated adiabatic Raman passage through the optical control of the NV center charge states and the confined conduction states of a diamond nanostructure. Our models show that for two NV centers in a diamond nanowire, high fidelity transport can be achieved over distances of order hundreds of nanometres in timescales of order hundreds of nanoseconds. Spatial adiabatic passage is therefore a promising option for realizing an on-chip spin quantum bus.

quant-ph↗