Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Diamond is a crystalline form of carbon. Defects in the crystal structure, notably the addition of nitrogen atoms, can emit light when electronically excited. These so-called nitrogen–vacancy centres can be used as single-photon sources, and are a potential resource for quantum information processing.
While MHz repetition rates at modern X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facilities achieve remarkable capabilities for imaging, the high repetition rates may also lead to new stability problems. The authors experimentally demonstrate that thermoelastic displacements between successive pulses can be detrimental to the performance of cavity-based XFEL
Significant improvement of quantum efficiency and thermal stability of NIR-emitting Ca3Y2-2x(ZnZr)xGe3O12:Cr was achieved by chemical unit cosubstitution, benefiting from valence reduction of Cr4+ to Cr3+ and reconstructed rigid crystal structure.
Practical anticounterfeiting labels should possess both high-capacity and robustness, and should allow easy fabrication and readout. Here, the authors show how to heterogeneously grow robust and stable chaotic pattern of diamond microparticles - containing SiV defects - on silicon substrates.
Quantum sensing that uses electron spins in diamond can perform precise magnetic field measurements but does not work well at high magnetic fields. An alternative approach involving the spins of carbon-13 nuclei can operate in the high-field regime.
The demonstration that diamond nitrogen–vacancy centre technology can optically detect voltages with an impressive sensitivity could bring new opportunities for investigating neurobiology.
The integration of diamond waveguide arrays into an aluminium nitride photonic platform offers hope for the realization of scalable chips for quantum information processing.
Optical control of geometric phase is demonstrated, paving the way towards quantum state control of the nitrogen–vacancy centre in diamond becoming resilient, spatially selective and scalable.