Diamond nanocrystals containing highly photoluminescent color centers are attractive non-classical and near-field light sources. For near-field applications the size of the nanocrystal is crucial since it defines the optical resolution. NV (Nitrogen-Vacancy) color centers are efficiently created by proton irradiation and annealing of a nanodiamond powder. Using near-field microscopy and photon statistics measurements, we show that nanodiamond with size down to 25 nm can hold a single NV color center with bright and stable photoluminescence.
@article{arxiv.0710.5850,
title = {25-nm diamond crystals hosting single NV color centers sorted by photon-correlation near-field microscopy},
author = {Yannick Sonnefraud and Aurelien Cuche and Orestis Faklaris and Jean-Paul Boudou and Thierry Sauvage and Jean-Francois Roch and Francois Treussart and Serge Huant},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0710.5850},
year = {2008}
}