Optical properties of diamond articles from across Nature Portfolio

Understanding the coherent dynamics of electron and nucleus spins in hBN is crucial for their applications as qubits and quantum sensors. Here the authors report room-temperature coherent manipulation of the negatively charged boron vacancy spins in hBN and study their dynamics under weak and strong magnetic fields.

Mirrors that demonstrate 98% reflectivity and withstand 10 kilowatts of focused continuous-wave laser light are created by nanoscale fabrication of single-crystal diamond. The work finds applications in medicine, defence, industry, and communications.

Highly efficient Fe³⁺-activated Sr_2-yCa_y(InSb)_1-zSn_2zO₆ near-infrared-emitting phosphors exhibit tunable emission from 885 to 1005 nm with cation substitution of Ca²⁺ for Sr²⁺ and further cosubstitution of [Sn⁴⁺–Sn⁴⁺] for [In³⁺–Sb⁵⁺].

Diamond is a promising host material for color-center photon source. Here the authors provide the experimental evidence of lasing in (NV−) centers in diamond. Through a rational fine-tuning of the pump condition they decrease the photoionization, ultimately increasing the laser efficiency.

Nuclear spins in diamond are promising for applications in quantum technologies due to their long coherence times. Here, the authors demonstrate a scalable electrical readout of individual intrinsic ¹⁴N nuclear spins in diamond, mediated by hyperfine coupling to electron spin of the NV center, as a step towards room-temperature nanoscale diamond quantum devices.

The use of cavity optomechanics for optical information processing is hindered by mechanical dissipation and the difficulties in stored signal control. Here, the authors improve performances on both fronts using time-varying parametric feedback through an additional optical field in a multi-mode cavity.