Versatile, rapid and robust nano-positioning of single-photon emitters by AFM-nanoxerography

M Humbert; Y Hallez; V Larrey; F Fournel; E Palleau; V Paillard; A Cuche; L Ressier

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac50f1

Versatile, rapid and robust nano-positioning of single-photon emitters by AFM-nanoxerography

Nanotechnology. 2022 Feb 28;33(21). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac50f1.

Authors

M Humbert^{1

2}, Y Hallez³, V Larrey⁴, F Fournel⁴, E Palleau¹, V Paillard², A Cuche², L Ressier¹

Affiliations

¹ Université de Toulouse, INSA-UPS-CNRS, LPCNO, 135 avenue de Rangueil, F-31077 Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
² CEMES-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 29 rue Jeanne Marvig, 31055 Toulouse Cedex, France.
³ Laboratoire de Génie Chimique, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
⁴ Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, LETI, 17 Avenue des Martyrs, F-38000 Grenoble, France.

PMID: 35105827
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac50f1

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanoxerography was successfully used to direct the assembly of colloidal nanodiamonds (NDs) containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres on electrostatically patterned surfaces. This study reveals that the number of deposited NDs can be controlled by tuning the surface potentials of positively charged dots on a negatively charged background written by AFM in a thin PMMA electret film, yielding assemblies down to a unique single-photon emitter with very good selectivity. The mechanisms of the ND directed assembly are attested by numerical simulations. This robust deterministic nano-positioning of quantum emitters thus offers great opportunities for ultimate applications in nanophotonics for quantum technologies.

Keywords: AFM; directed assembly; nanodiamonds; nanoxerography; nitrogen-vacancy centre; quantum nano-optics; single-photon sources.