Blinking free single-photon emission from defect center based ZnO quantum emitters

Abstract

Photoluminescence blinking is a major drawback of semiconductor nanoparticle-based single-photon emitters. Here, we present a novel work on the theoretical analysis of the blinking mechanism in zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and demonstrate that blinking can be suppressed by allowing photoinduced charge to quickly exchange with a metallic reservoir. Further, we show that ZnO NPs coated on a metallic substrate exhibit single-photon emission with high brightness, comparable to fluorescent nanodiamonds and that they exhibit high stability against photo-degradation. Furthermore, polarization-resolved photoluminescence measurements indicate that the emission dipole in ZnO NPs is well aligned with the axis of the excitation dipole, thereby providing a single-photon source with controllable polarization states of single-photon emission.