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Diamond optical emitters for quantum information and sensing

Philip Hemmer

Published Aug 20, 2020• 0 citations
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Abstract

Diamond optical emitters have been explored extensively in recent years for applications to quantum information and processing. Recently they have also been considered for quantum sensing, especially as nanocrystals in biological systems. However, for most of these applications, the performance of the diamond optical emitters is sensitive to the quality of the material. However, there are still important problems that still must be solved in order to realize the full potential of diamond. For example, existing growth and processing techniques (including ion implantation) are fundamentally probabilistic in nature and so cannot easily produce scalable quantum systems. To overcome these problems, we show a molecule-seeded growth technique that decouples the doping and growth processes. The result is near-deterministic creation of specific color centers in chemically pure, low-strain diamond.

DOI
10.1117/12.2566110

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Diamond optical emitters have been explored extensively in recent years for applications to quantum information and processing. Recently they have also been considered for quantum sensing, especially as nanocrystals in biological systems. However, for most of these applications, the performance of the diamond optical emitters is sensitive to the quality of the material. However, there are still important problems that still must be solved in order to realize the full potential of diamond. For example, existing growth and processing techniques (including ion implantation) are fundamentally probabilistic in nature and so cannot easily produce scalable quantum systems. To overcome these problems, we show a molecule-seeded growth technique that decouples the doping and growth processes. The result is near-deterministic creation of specific color centers in chemically pure, low-strain diamond.
The performance of diamond color centers for quantum information and sensing depends strongly on the quality of the material. Specifically, ultra-pure, low-strain diamond is preferred. However, in order to create color centers, non-carbon atoms must be incorporated into the lattice either by rapid growth or implantation. Both these techniques cause defects and lattice damage that degrades ultimate performance. To overcome these problems, we show a molecule-seeded growth technique that decouples the doping and growth processes. The result is near-deterministic creation of specific color centers in chemically pure, low-strain diamond. Data showing selective growth of H3 and NV centers will be presented, where the NV is used to verify that the crystals are low-strain. Future application to other color centers like silicon, germanium, and tin vacancies will be discussed. Also the possibility of direct growth of more complex quantum registers.
I discuss new ways to grow diamond that promise near-deterministic design of fluorescent color-centers, optimized for quantum sensing and metrology applications. The key is to grow diamond from organic molecules at a low enough temperature such that only some of the molecules decompose. This approach gives unprecedented control over the properties of diamond color centers by decoupling diamond-growth from color-center creation. In addition, low growth temperature produces high quality diamonds and allows a wider choice of growth pressures than is currently believed possible.
Advances in material processing are rapidly improving the quality and scalability of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) and group-IV vacancy (G4V) color centers in diamond—key building blocks for quantum sensing and photonic networks. Central challenges remain: precise control of defect-formation pathways and the mitigation of nearby charge traps and parasitic states, which is especially problematic for near-surface emitters. Recent progress in sample preparation and in-situ thermal treatments (before, during and after growth, and during implantation) have reduced nonradiative dark defects and suppressed interface doping. Optimizing thermal strategies have illustrated an increased conversion yield for NV and G4V centers, while limiting unwanted photoluminescence. Similarly, surface treatments play an imperative role in stabilizing near-surface charge states for sensing applications. Complementary ex-situ protocols, such as high-temperature vacuum anneals, and hybrid incorporation methods that combine shallow implantation with epitaxial overgrowth continue to improve yields and coherence for shallow NV and G4V centers. Together, these integrated strategies are enabling deterministic, high-fidelity quantum emitters embedded in scalable diamond nanostructures.
Synthetic diamond has recently emerged as a candidate material for a number of quantum applications, including quantum information processing and quantum sensing. In this talk, I will show how single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers can be created near the diamond surface and used as nanoscale sensors of electric and magnetic fields. I will also demonstrate novel dynamical decoupling techniques allowing to improve the sensitivity of diamond quantum sensors and discuss applications of small-scale quantum registers for nanoscale NMR. Applications of NV centers for hyperpolarisation of nuclear spins and application of optical spin polarization in MRI will be presented.
I discuss new ways to grow diamond that promise near-deterministic design of fluorescent color-centers, optimized for quantum sensing applications. Briefly diamonds are grown around diamond-like organic seed molecules that have the dopant atoms needed for specific color centers, located in the correct approximate locations. It can be seen that this approach can give unprecedented control over the number and placement of color centers. Complete quantum registers might also be fabricated, for example a nitrogen-vacancy and at 13C atom with a well-defined separation surrounded by only 12C diamond. In this talk I will discuss our first key success, which is growing diamonds under conditions where the seed molecules are stable, as well as current experiments.