Single photon emitters based on Ni/Si related defects in single crystalline diamond

We present investigations on single Ni/Si related color centers produced via ion implantation into single crystalline type IIa CVD diamond. By testing different ion dose combinations we show that there is an upper limit for both the Ni and the Si dose (1012 cm−2 and 1010 cm−2 resp.) due to the creation of excess fluorescent background. We demonstrate creation of Ni/Si related centers showing emission in the spectral range between 767 nm and 775 nm and narrow line-widths of ≈2 nm FWHM at room temperature. Measurements of the intensity autocorrelation functions prove single-photon emission. The investigated color centers can be coarsely divided into two groups: Drawing from photon statistics and the degree of polarization in excitation and emission, we find that some color centers behave as two-level, single-dipole systems whereas other centers exhibit three levels and contributions from two orthogonal dipoles. In addition, some color centers feature stable and bright emission with saturation count rates up to 78 kcounts/s whereas others show fluctuating count rates and three-level blinking.