E. Moreva

Time from quantum entanglement: an experimental illustration

In the last years several theoretical papers discussed if time can be an emergent property deriving from quantum correlations. Here, to provide an insight into how this phenomenon can occur, we present an experiment that illustrates Page and Wootters mechanism of static time, and Gambini et al. subsequent refinements. A static, entangled state between a clock system and the rest of the universe is perceived as evolving by internal observers that test the correlations between the two subsystems. We implement this mechanism using an entangled state of the polarization of two photons, one of which is used as a clock to gauge the evolution of the second: an internal observer that becomes correlated with the clock photon sees the other system evolve, while an external observer that only observes global properties of the two photons can prove it is static.

Beating the Abbe diffraction limit in confocal microscopy via nonclassical photon statistics.

We experimentally demonstrate quantum enhanced resolution in confocal fluorescence microscopy exploiting the nonclassical photon statistics of single nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond. By developing a general model of superresolution based on the direct sampling of the kth-order autocorrelation function of the photoluminescence signal, we show the possibility to resolve, in principle, arbitrarily close emitting centers.

Native NIR-emitting single colour centres in CVD diamond

Single-photon sources are a fundamental element for developing quantum technologies, and sources based on colour centres in diamonds are among the most promising candidates. The well-known nitrogen vacancy centres are characterized by several limitations, and thus few other defects have recently been considered. In the present work, we characterize, in detail, native efficient single colour centres emitting in the near infra-red (λxa0=xa0740–780 nm) in both standard IIa single-crystal and electronic-grade polycrystalline commercial chemical vapour deposited (CVD) diamond samples. In the former case, a high-temperature (Txa0>xa01000 °C) annealing process in vacuum is necessary to induce the formation/activation of luminescent centres with good emission properties, while in the latter case the annealing process has marginally beneficial effects on the number and performance of native centres in commercially available samples. Although displaying significant variability in several photo-physical properties (emission wavelength, emission rate instabilities, saturation behaviours), these centres generally display appealing photophysical properties for applications as single photon sources: short lifetimes (0.7–3 ns), high emission rates (∼50–500xa0×xa0103 photons s−1) and strongly (>95%) polarized light. The native centres are tentatively attributed to impurities incorporated in the diamond crystal during the CVD growth of high-quality type-IIa samples, and offer promising perspectives in diamond-based photonics.

Electrical stimulation of non-classical photon emission from diamond color centers by means of sub-superficial graphitic electrodes.

Focused MeV ion beams with micrometric resolution are suitable tools for the direct writing of conductive graphitic channels buried in an insulating diamond bulk, as already demonstrated for different device applications. In this work we apply this fabrication method to the electrical excitation of color centers in diamond, demonstrating the potential of electrical stimulation in diamond-based single-photon sources. Differently from optically-stimulated light emission from color centers in diamond, electroluminescence (EL) requires a high current flowing in the diamond subgap states between the electrodes. With this purpose, buried graphitic electrode pairs, 10u2009μm spaced, were fabricated in the bulk of a single-crystal diamond sample using a 6u2009MeV C microbeam. The electrical characterization of the structure showed a significant current injection above an effective voltage threshold of 150u2009V, which enabled the stimulation of a stable EL emission. The EL imaging allowed to identify the electroluminescent regions and the residual vacancy distribution associated with the fabrication technique. Measurements evidenced isolated electroluminescent spots where non-classical light emission in the 560–700u2009nm spectral range was observed. The spectral and auto-correlation features of the EL emission were investigated to qualify the non-classical properties of the color centers.

Single-Photon-Emitting Optical Centers in Diamond Fabricated upon Sn Implantation

The fabrication of luminescent defects in single-crystal diamond upon Sn implantation and annealing is reported. The relevant spectral features of the optical centers (emission peaks at 593.5, 620.3, 630.7, and 646.7 nm) are attributed to Sn-related defects through the correlation of their photoluminescence (PL) intensity with the implantation fluence. Single Sn-related defects were identified and characterized through the acquisition of their second-order autocorrelation emission functions, by means of Hanbury-Brown and Twiss interferometry. The investigation of their single-photon emission regime as a function of excitation laser power revealed that Sn-related defects are based on three-level systems with a 6 ns radiative decay lifetime. In a fraction of the studied centers, the observation of a blinking PL emission is indicative of the existence of a dark state. Furthermore, absorption dependence on the polarization of the excitation radiation with ∼45% contrast was measured. This work shed light on th...

Nanodiamonds-induced effects on neuronal firing of mouse hippocampal microcircuits

Fluorescent nanodiamonds (FND) are carbon-based nanomaterials that can efficiently incorporate optically active photoluminescent centers such as the nitrogen-vacancy complex, thus making them promising candidates as optical biolabels and drug-delivery agents. FNDs exhibit bright fluorescence without photobleaching combined with high uptake rate and low cytotoxicity. Focusing on FNDs interference with neuronal function, here we examined their effect on cultured hippocampal neurons, monitoring the whole network development as well as the electrophysiological properties of single neurons. We observed that FNDs drastically decreased the frequency of inhibitory (from 1.81u2009Hz to 0.86u2009Hz) and excitatory (from 1.61 to 0.68u2009Hz) miniature postsynaptic currents, and consistently reduced action potential (AP) firing frequency (by 36%), as measured by microelectrode arrays. On the contrary, bursts synchronization was preserved, as well as the amplitude of spontaneous inhibitory and excitatory events. Current-clamp recordings revealed that the ratio of neurons responding with AP trains of high-frequency (fast-spiking) versus neurons responding with trains of low-frequency (slow-spiking) was unaltered, suggesting that FNDs exerted a comparable action on neuronal subpopulations. At the single cell level, rapid onset of the somatic AP (“kink”) was drastically reduced in FND-treated neurons, suggesting a reduced contribution of axonal and dendritic components while preserving neuronal excitability.

Direct experimental observation of nonclassicality in ensembles of single-photon emitters

In this work we experimentally demonstrate a recently proposed criterion addressed to detect nonclassical behavior in the fluorescence emission of ensembles of single-photon emitters. In particular, we apply the method to study clusters of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond characterized with single-photon-sensitive confocal microscopy. Theoretical considerations on the behavior of the parameter at any arbitrary order in the presence of Poissonian noise are presented and, finally, the opportunity of detecting manifold coincidences is discussed.

Quantum time: Experimental multitime correlations

In this paper we provide an experimental illustration of Page and Wootters quantum time mechanism that is able to describe two-time quantum correlation functions. This allows us to test a Leggett-Garg inequality, showing a violation from the internal observer point of view. The external observer sees a time-independent global state. Indeed, the scheme is implemented using a narrow-band single photon where the clock degree of freedom is encoded in the photons position. Hence, the internal observer that measures the position can track the flow of time, while the external observer sees a delocalized photon that has no time evolution in the experiment time-scale.

The time as an emergent property of quantum mechanics, a synthetic description of a first experimental approach

The problem of time in present physics substantially consists in the fact that a straightforward quantization of the general relativistic evolution equation and constraints generates for the Universe wave function the Wheeler-De Witt equation, which describes a static Universe. Page and Wootters considered the fact that there exist states of a system composed by entangled subsystems that are stationary, but one can interpret the component subsystems as evolving: this leads them to suppose that the global state of the universe can be envisaged as one of this static entangled state, whereas the state of the subsystems can evolve. Here we synthetically present an experiment, based on PDC polarization entangled photons, that allows showing with a practical example a situation where this idea works, i.e. a subsystem of an entangled state works as a clock of another subsystem.

Single-photon emitters based on NIR color centers in diamond coupled with solid immersion lenses

Single-photon sources represent a key enabling technology in quantum optics, and single color centers in diamond are a promising platform to serve this purpose, due to their high quantum efficiency and photostability at room temperature. The widely studied nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers are characterized by several limitations, thus other defects have recently been considered, with a specific focus of centers emitting in the near-infra red (NIR). In the present work, we report on the coupling of native NIR-emitting centers in high-quality single-crystal diamond with solid immersion lens (SIL) structures fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB) lithography. The reported improvements in terms of light collection efficiency make the proposed system an ideal platform for the development of single-photon emitters with appealing photophysical and spectral properties.