For applications in Quantum Information and Quantum Key Distribution an on-demand source of single photons is desirable because absolute security is of utmost importance. Photons are quantum systems; hence encoding information onto them offers a secure alternative to classical cryptography as a measurement cannot be performed on photons without altering their properties. The Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) centre in diamond is a good source of such photons. It is photo-stable and its location in diamond offers robustness. It has zero phonon line at 637 nm and its relative short luminescence life-time of about 12 ns makes it suitable for generating single photons. This thesis covers two aspects: Firstly the characterization of defects in diamonds and subsequent selection of diamonds suitable for use in the single photon setup and secondly, the development of the experimental setup for single photon generation. This thesis sets out to describe the development of a laboratory based single photon source using the NV centre in diamond. For this purpose a suite of diamond samples were selected and subjected to various spectroscopic tests in order to characterize and classify the samples, especially the presence of the NV centres and their concentrations. The characterization of the defects was done through the use of the following spectroscopic techniques: Ultraviolet-Visible-Near infrared spectroscopy, Infrared spectroscopy, Electron Spin Resonance and Photoluminescence. These techniques enabled us to understand the types and origins of crystal defects that were present in the diamond samples used in this study and to use this to select diamonds that are most suitable for use in generation of single photons. The experimental setup for single photon generation using the NV centre is based on a confocal microscope arrangement. Single NV centres were identified by measuring the second order autocorrelation function of the fluorescence light emitted by the sample when illuminated with a laser. This measurement was done using a Hanbury-Brown Twiss (HBT) interferometer. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/8320 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Semonyo, Malehlohonolo. |
| Contributors | Govender, Kessie. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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