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Applied Physics Letters

Tunable light emission from nitrogen-vacancy centers in single crystal diamond PIN diodes

Hiromitsu Kato, Marco T. Wolfer, Christoph Schreyvogel, Michael Kunzer, Wolfgang Müller-Sebert, Harald Obloh, Satoshi Yamasaki, Christoph Erwin Nebel

Published Apr 15, 2013• 73 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Charge-states modulation of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers incorporated into single crystal diamond films attracts increasing attention for solid-state qubits applications. Here, we discuss the electro- and photoluminescence emission properties of NV centers incorporated by gas phase nitrogen delta-doping of the intrinsic diamond layer of a positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) junction diode. The experiments show that the charge state of NV centers can be intentionally controlled by applying well-defined external bias voltages. It can be switched from the negatively charged state NV− to the neutral charged state NV0 when a strong forward bias potential is applied. This can be switched back by application of reverse potentials. These results will be discussed assuming basic electronic properties of diamond PIN diodes, including the variation of spectral properties as well as the dynamics of charge state transitions.

DOI
10.1063/1.4801871

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Charge-states modulation of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers incorporated into single crystal diamond films attracts increasing attention for solid-state qubits applications. Here, we discuss the electro- and photoluminescence emission properties of NV centers incorporated by gas phase nitrogen delta-doping of the intrinsic diamond layer of a positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) junction diode. The experiments show that the charge state of NV centers can be intentionally controlled by applying well-defined external bias voltages. It can be switched from the negatively charged state NV− to the neutral charged state NV0 when a strong forward bias potential is applied. This can be switched back by application of reverse potentials. These results will be discussed assuming basic electronic properties of diamond PIN diodes, including the variation of spectral properties as well as the dynamics of charge state transitions.
The realization of electroluminescence (EL) of negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV−) centers is important toward all-electrical control of diamond quantum devices. In this study, we demonstrated electrical excitation and detection of EL of single NV− centers by using lateral diamond p+–i(n−)–n+ diodes. It had been grown by homoepitaxy using the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. We introduced a lightly phosphorus doped i(n−) layer to stabilize the negative state of NV centers. It was estimated that the efficiency of the electrical excitation rate of the NV center was more than 30 times enhanced by introducing lateral diamond p+–i(n−)–n+ diodes structure compared with the previous vertical diode. Furthermore, the EL of a single NV− center embedded in the i(n−) layer region was characterized. The results show that the charge state of the single NV centers can be manipulated by the voltage applied to the p+–i(n−)–n+ diode, where the emission of EL is increasingly dominated by NV− in the range of 30 to 50 V.
We fabricated n-type–intrinsic–n-type (n–i–n) diamond junctions to stabilize negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV − ) centers. An ensemble of NV centers was generated in a high-purity intrinsic diamond in order to maintain the spin coherence time. The Fermi-energy of the i-layers was controlled by band bending at the two n–i junctions. We confirmed that the NV centers can be modulated toward NV − centers by decreasing the width of the i-layers between adjacent n-layers. The spin coherence time for the NV − centers was maintained even for narrow i-layers.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in single-crystal CVD diamond are promising candidates for quantum sensing due to their remarkable optical and spin properties [1]. These defects exhibit stable photoluminescence (PL), long spin coherence times, and high sensitivity to external fields [2]. In this study, we present a room-temperature PL characterization of NV centers excited with a 532 nm laser. The setup was optimized for high signal-to-noise ratio and spectral resolution. Key parameters analyzed include emission intensity, zero-phonon line (ZPL) at ~637 nm, phonon sidebands, and the charge state distribution between NV⁰ and NV⁻. The NV⁻ state, crucial for spin-based sensing, is evaluated to understand its stability under different nitrogen doping conditions [3]. The relative intensities of NV⁰ and NV⁻ provide insights into nitrogen incorporation and vacancy formation. These results contribute to optimizing synthesis conditions for enhanced NV⁻ concentration, supporting the advancement of diamond-based quantum sensing technologies.
The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre exhibits outstanding optical and spin properties and thus is very attractive for applications in quantum optics. Up to now an active control of the charge state of near-surface NV centres is difficult and the centres switch in an uncontrolled way between different charge states. In this work, we demonstrate an active control of the charge state of NV centres (implanted 7 nm below the surface) by using an in-plane Schottky diode geometry from aluminium on hydrogen terminated diamond in combination with confocal micro-photoluminescence measurements. The partial quenching of NV-photoluminescence caused by the hole accumulation layer of the hydrogen terminated surface can be recovered by applying reverse bias potentials on this diode, i.e. the NV(0) charge state is depleted while the NV(-) charge state is populated. This charge state conversion is caused by the bias voltage affected modulation of the band bending in the depletion region which shifts the Fermi level across the NV charge transition levels.
In this Letter, the photoinduced switching of the single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center between two different charge states, negative (${\mathrm{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$) and neutral (NV0{\mathrm{NV}}^{0}NV0), is studied under resonant excitation at liquid helium temperature. We show that resonant conversion of NV0{\mathrm{NV}}^{0}NV0 to ${\mathrm{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ significantly improves spectral stability of the ${\mathrm{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ defect and allows high fidelity initialization of the spin qubit. Based on density functional theory calculations a novel mechanism involving an Auger ionization of ${\mathrm{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and charge transfer of an electron from the valence band to NV0{\mathrm{NV}}^{0}NV0 is discussed. This study provides further insight into the charge dynamics of the NV center, which is relevant for quantum information processing based on an ${\mathrm{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ defect in diamond.