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Fasoulakis A, Major KD, Hoggarth RA, Burdekin P, Bogusz DP, Schofield RC, Clark AS. Uniaxial strain tuning of organic molecule single photon sources. NANOSCALE 2022; 15:177-184. [PMID: 36472171 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr02439j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Organic fluorophores are excellent single photon sources, combining high brightness, lifetime-limited linewidths and useful emission wavelengths. A key factor in their performance as photon emitters is their dynamic frequency tunability, which can be used to render the emission from multiple molecules indistinguishable. In this work we demonstrate dynamic tuning of dibenzoterrylene molecules embedded in anthracene crystals through the application of uniaxial strain fields. By bending a piezoelectric strip in two opposite directions in linear steps, we impose an escalating compressive or tensile strain on the molecular crystals, resulting in two opposite dynamic detunings of the dopant dibenzoterrylene emission wavelength. To validate that the tuning mechanism is strain, we performed a similar measurement using an identical strip that was depolarised by annealing in which the tuning was absent. Finally, we simulated the effect of strain on the dopant dibenzoterrylene emission wavelength by combining molecular dynamics and density functional theory techniques to determine the strain tuning rate which matched well with that found experimentally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasios Fasoulakis
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
- Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training, University of Bristol, 5 Tyndall Avenue, BS8 1FD, Bristol, UK
| | - Kyle D Major
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
| | - Rowan A Hoggarth
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
| | - Paul Burdekin
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
| | - Dominika P Bogusz
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
| | - Ross C Schofield
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
| | - Alex S Clark
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK.
- Quantum Engineering Technology Labs, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, BS8 1UB, Bristol, UK
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Schofield RC, Burdekin P, Fasoulakis A, Devanz L, Bogusz DP, Hoggarth RA, Major KD, Clark AS. Narrow and stable single photon emission from dibenzoterrylene in para-terphenyl nanocrystals. Chemphyschem 2021; 23:e202100809. [PMID: 34905640 PMCID: PMC9302619 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202100809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Single organic molecules are promising photon sources for quantum technologies. In this work we show photon emission from dibenzoterrylene, a widely used organic emitter, in a new host matrix, para‐terphenyl. We present a reprecipitation growth method that produces para‐terphenyl nanocrystals which are ideal for integration into nanophotonic devices due to their small size. We characterise the optical properties of dibenzoterrylene in nanocrystals at room and cryogenic temperatures, showing bright, narrow emission from a single molecule. Spectral data on the vibrational energies is presented and a further 25 additional molecules are characterised. This emitter‐host combination has potential for quantum technology purposes with wavelengths suitable for interfacing with quantum memories.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Kyle D Major
- Imperial College London, Physics, UNITED KINGDOM
| | - Alex S Clark
- Imperial College London, Physics, UNITED KINGDOM
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Palombo Blascetta N, Lombardi P, Toninelli C, van Hulst NF. Cold and Hot Spots: From Inhibition to Enhancement by Nanoscale Phase Tuning of Optical Nanoantennas. NANO LETTERS 2020; 20:6756-6762. [PMID: 32804516 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Optical nanoantennas are well-known for the confinement of light into nanoscale hot spots, suitable for emission enhancement and sensing applications. Here, we show how control of the antenna dimensions allows tuning the local optical phase, hence turning a hot spot into a cold spot. We manipulate the local intensity exploiting the interference between driving and scattered field. Using single molecules as local detectors, we experimentally show the creation of subwavelength pockets with full suppression of the driving field. Remarkably, together with the cold excitation spots, we observe inhibition of emission by the phase-tuned nanoantenna. The fluorescence lifetime of a molecule scanned in such volumes becomes longer, showing slow down of spontaneous decay. In conclusion, the spatial phase of a nanoantenna is a powerful knob to tune between enhancement and inhibition in a 3-dimensional subwavelength volume.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Palombo Blascetta
- ICFO, Institut de Ciences Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels, Barcelona 08860, Spain
| | - Pietro Lombardi
- CNR-INO and LENS, European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Nello Carrara 1, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy
| | - Costanza Toninelli
- CNR-INO and LENS, European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Nello Carrara 1, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze, Italy
| | - Niek F van Hulst
- ICFO, Institut de Ciences Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels, Barcelona 08860, Spain
- ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona 08010, Spain
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Clear C, Schofield RC, Major KD, Iles-Smith J, Clark AS, McCutcheon DPS. Phonon-Induced Optical Dephasing in Single Organic Molecules. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 124:153602. [PMID: 32357066 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.124.153602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
We present a joint experiment-theory analysis of the temperature-dependent emission spectra, zero-phonon linewidth, and second-order correlation function of light emitted from a single organic molecule. We observe spectra with a zero-phonon line together with several additional sharp peaks, broad phonon sidebands, and a strongly temperature dependent homogeneous broadening. Our model includes both localized vibrational modes of the molecule and a thermal phonon bath, which we include nonperturbatively, and is able to capture all observed features. For resonant driving we measure Rabi oscillations that become increasingly damped with temperature, which our model naturally reproduces. Our results constitute an essential characterization of the photon coherence of molecules, paving the way to their use in future quantum information applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloe Clear
- Quantum Engineering Technology Labs, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, BS8 1FD, United Kingdom
| | - Ross C Schofield
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Kyle D Major
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Jake Iles-Smith
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S3 7RH, United Kingdom
| | - Alex S Clark
- Centre for Cold Matter, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Dara P S McCutcheon
- Quantum Engineering Technology Labs, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, BS8 1FD, United Kingdom
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Polisseni C, Major KD, Boissier S, Grandi S, Clark AS, Hinds EA. Stable, single-photon emitter in a thin organic crystal for application to quantum-photonic devices. OPTICS EXPRESS 2016; 24:5615-5627. [PMID: 29092383 DOI: 10.1364/oe.24.005615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Single dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules offer great promise as bright, reliable sources of single photons on demand, capable of integration into solid-state devices. It has been proposed that DBT in anthracene might be placed close to an optical waveguide for this purpose, but so far there have been no demonstrations of sufficiently thin crystals, with a controlled concentration of the dopant molecules. Here we present a method for growing very thin anthracene crystals from super-saturated vapour, which produces crystals of extreme flatness and controlled thickness. We show how this crystal can be doped with an adjustable concentration of dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules and we examine the optical properties of these molecules to demonstrate their suitability as quantum emitters in nanophotonic devices. Our measurements show that the molecules are available in the crystal as single quantum emitters, with a well-defined polarisation relative to the crystal axes, making them amenable to alignment with optical nanostructures. We find that the radiative lifetime and saturation intensity vary little within the crystal and are not in any way compromised by the unusual matrix environment. We show that a large fraction of these emitters can be excited more than 1012 times without photo-bleaching, making them suitable for real applications.
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