Fluorescent color centers in laser ablated 4H-SiC nanoparticles

Nanostructured and bulk silicon carbide (SiC) has recently emerged as a novel platform for quantum nanophotonics due to its harboring of paramagnetic color centers, having immediate applications as a single photon source and spin optical probes. Here, using ultra-short pulsed laser ablation, we fabr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2017-04, Vol.42 (7), p.1297-1300
Main Authors: Castelletto, S, Almutairi, A F M, Thalassinos, G, Lohrmann, A, Buividas, R, Lau, D W M, Reineck, P, Juodkazis, S, Ohshima, T, Gibson, B C, Johnson, B C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ablation
Carbon Compounds, Inorganic - chemistry
Color
Color centers
Fluorescence
Lasers
Microscopy, Fluorescence - methods
Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles - chemistry
Nanostructure
Silicon
Silicon carbide
Silicon Compounds - chemistry
Vacancies
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Summary:Nanostructured and bulk silicon carbide (SiC) has recently emerged as a novel platform for quantum nanophotonics due to its harboring of paramagnetic color centers, having immediate applications as a single photon source and spin optical probes. Here, using ultra-short pulsed laser ablation, we fabricated from electron irradiated bulk 4H-SiC, 40-50 nm diameter SiC nanoparticles, fluorescent at 850-950 nm. This photoluminescence is attributed to the silicon vacancy color centers. We demonstrate that the original silicon vacancy color centers from the target sample were retained in the final nanoparticles solution, exhibiting excellent colloidal stability in water over several months. Our work is relevant for quantum nanophotonics, magnetic sensing, and biomedical imaging applications.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.42.001297