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arXiv:2101.01979 · New Journal of Physics

Fabrication of 15NV− centers in diamond using a deterministic single ion implanter

Karin Groot-Berning, Georg Jacob, Christian Osterkamp, Fedor Jelezko, Ferdinand Schmidt‐Kaler

Published Jun 1, 2021• 33 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are a platform for several important quantum technologies, including sensing, communication and elementary quantum processors. In this letter we demonstrate the creation of NV centers by implantation using a deterministic single ion source. For this we sympathetically laser-cool single N 2 + 15 molecular ions in a Paul trap and extract them at an energy of 5.9 keV. Subsequently the ions are focused with a lateral resolution of 121(35) nm and are implanted into a diamond substrate without any spatial filtering by apertures or masks. After high-temperature annealing, we detect the NV centers in a confocal microscope and determine a conversion efficiency of about 0.6%. The 15NV centers are characterized by optically detected magnetic resonance on the hyperfine transition and coherence time.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/ac0753

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Abstract Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are a platform for several important quantum technologies, including sensing, communication and elementary quantum processors. In this letter we demonstrate the creation of NV centers by implantation using a deterministic single ion source. For this we sympathetically laser-cool single N 2 + 15 molecular ions in a Paul trap and extract them at an energy of 5.9 keV. Subsequently the ions are focused with a lateral resolution of 121(35) nm and are implanted into a diamond substrate without any spatial filtering by apertures or masks. After high-temperature annealing, we detect the NV centers in a confocal microscope and determine a conversion efficiency of about 0.6%. The 15NV centers are characterized by optically detected magnetic resonance on the hyperfine transition and coherence time.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are gaining attention as room-temperature quantum bits, with potential applications in quantum sensing, quantum information processing, and quantum communication. Precise positioning of NV centers is crucial for creating efficient single-photon sources using optical resonators and quantum memories for quantum interface, etc. Generally, broad ion beam implantation through nanohole fabricated by electron beam lithography has been widely used for precise creation of NV centers. There are several reports of deterministic NV creation by using pulsed fs- or ps-laser irradiations. In addition, focusing ion beam implantation provides a route towards scalable quantum information processing [3-6]. In this study, we are developing an inherently deterministic single-ion implantation method based on a linear Paul trap (LPT) as a single-ion source, since the laser-cooling technique can be applied to the trap system to obtain ultralow-emittance ions and manipulate single ions one by one. The QST system uses doubly charged ions cooled with calcium ions, allowing 100 keV ion implantation in diamond.
Precise control over the spatial distribution and charge state of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond is a key requirement for further advancing this platform in quantum sensing and photonic applications. Here, we investigate nitrogen ion implantation as a scalable method to engineer NV centers in bulk single-crystalline (SC) and a 5 μ m -thick polycrystalline (PC) diamond membrane. Nitrogen-doped regions (1–80 ppm) were fabricated using a 0.7 MeV ion beam and high-temperature annealing, with NV center formation verified by confocal fluorescence imaging and spectral analysis. In SC bulk diamond, we estimate the NV concentration from spectral analysis and model the fluorescence response as a function of implantation dose, capturing both the initial increase at low concentrations and a saturation behavior at higher doses due to quenching mechanisms. In contrast, PC diamond membranes show a weaker dependence at low implantation fluences, consistent with pre-existing nitrogen impurities, thus making a statistical model significantly more complex. The activation yield is found to be of order of 1%, which is lower than in N-rich diamond samples, as implanted N is predominantly interstitial. Photoluminescence spectroscopy indicates that NV 0 is the dominant charge state in both materials, with a laser-power-dependent redistribution between neutral and negative charge states. Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) measurements in SC bulk diamond resolve the hyperfine structure and allow extraction of the dephasing time ( T 2 ∗ ), while in PC diamond membranes, where NV centers tend do form near the grain boundaries, the ODMR signals are observed but spectral resolution is currently limited by impurities, grain-dependent NV orientations, and photoluminescence background.
We demonstrate highly tunable formation of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers using 20 keV 15N+ ion implantation through arrays of high-resolution apertures fabricated with electron beam lithography. By varying the aperture diameters from 80 to 240 nm, as well as the average ion fluences from 5×1010 to 2 × 1011 ions/cm2, we can control the number of ions per aperture. We analyze the photoluminescence on multiple sites with different implantation parameters and obtain ion-to-NV conversion yields of 6%–7%, consistent across all ion fluences. The implanted NV centers have spin dephasing times T2* ∼ 3 μs, comparable to naturally occurring NV centers in high purity diamond with natural abundance 13C. With this technique, we can deterministically control the population distribution of NV centers in each aperture, allowing for the study of single or coupled NV centers and their integration into photonic structures.
The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are amongst the most promising candidates for quantum information applications. Up to now the creation of such defects was highly probabilistic, requiring many copies of the nanodevice. Here we show that by employing a two step implantation process which includes low dose N2+ molecular ion implantations followed by high dose C implantation can increase the generation efficiency of NV centers by over 50%. Moreover, we detected intrinsic N14 concentration as low as 0.07 ppb by converting the nitrogen impurities into NV and then counting the single centers by using a confocal microscope.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond with coherent optical transitions are a promising candidate for quantum science and technology protocols. A widely used strategy for their creation is nitrogen-ion implantation and high-temperature annealing. The data presented in this work show that while low-strain, narrow-optical-linewidth NV centers are formed from naturally occurring 14{}^{14}14N atoms, NV centers formed from the implanted 15{}^{15}15N atoms show broadened optical transitions and experience higher strain. These results have immediate implications for the positioning accuracy of current NV center creation protocols.
Scalable realizations of quantum network technologies utilizing the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond require creation of optically coherent NV centers in close proximity to a surface for coupling to optical structures. We create single NV centers by 15N^{15}\mathrm{N}15N ion implantation and high-temperature vacuum annealing. The origin of the NV centers is established by optically detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy for nitrogen isotope identification. Near-lifetime-limited optical linewidths (<60MHz)(<60 \mathrm{MHz})(<60MHz) are observed for the majority of the normal-implant (${7}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$, $\ensuremath{\approx}100$ nm deep) 15NV^{15}\mathrm{NV}15NV centers. Long-term stability of the ${\mathrm{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ charge state and emission frequency is demonstrated. The effect of NV-surface interaction is investigated by varying the implantation angle for a fixed ion energy, and thus lattice damage profile. In contrast to the normal-implant condition, NVs from an oblique implant (${85}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$, $\ensuremath{\approx}20$ nm deep) exhibit substantially reduced optical coherence. Our results imply that the surface is a larger source of perturbation than implantation damage for shallow implanted NVs. This work supports the viability of ion implantation for formation of optically stable NV centers. However, careful surface preparation will be necessary for scalable defect engineering.