Israeli Breakthrough in Diamond Tech Paves Way for Faster, Reliable Quantum Devices

A major advance in diamond-based technology may soon move quantum communication and highly sensitive sensors from the research stage into everyday use.

Scientists from Israel and Germany revealed Sunday they have developed a way to capture almost all the light emitted by microscopic flaws in diamonds; a discovery that could make quantum systems quicker, sturdier, and easier to incorporate into current platforms.

At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working with Humboldt University in Berlin, researchers studied nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, tiny defects in diamond crystals that release single photons carrying quantum data. These photons form the foundation for next-generation quantum computers, secure communications, and precision sensors. Until now, much of that light scattered randomly, making it hard to use for practical purposes.

To solve this, the team embedded nanodiamonds with NV centers inside specially built hybrid nanoantennas. Designed from alternating layers of metal and dielectric material in a bullseye layout, the antennas can direct the light precisely when the nanodiamonds sit exactly in the center; accurate down to a few billionths of a meter.

This method achieved a major performance jump: up to 80% of photons are captured at room temperature, far exceeding earlier approaches.

Their findings were published in APL Quantum, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

“This brings us much closer to practical quantum devices,” said Prof. Ronen Rapaport of the Hebrew University. “By making photon collection more efficient, we’re opening the door to technologies such as secure quantum communication and ultra-sensitive sensors.”

Dr. Boaz Lubotzky added, “What excites us is that this works in a simple, chip-based design and at room temperature. That means it can be integrated into real-world systems much more easily than before.”