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Frontiers in Physics

Creation of Silicon-Vacancy Color Centers in Diamond by Ion Implantation

S. Lagomarsino, Assegid M. Flatae, Haritha Kambalathmana, Florian Sledz, Lukas Hunold, Navid Soltani, Philipp Reuschel, S. Sciortino, N. Gelli, Mirko Massi, C. Czelusniak, L. Giuntini, Mario Agio

Published Jan 14, 2021• 45 citations

Abstract

Silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in diamond are gaining an increased interest for application, such as in quantum technologies and sensing. Due to the strong luminescence concentrated in its sharp zero-phonon line at room temperature, SiV centers are being investigated as single-photon sources for quantum communication, and also as temperature probes for sensing. Here, we discussed strategies for the fabrication of SiV centers in diamond based on Si-ion implantation followed by thermal activation. SiV color centers in high-quality single crystals have the best optical properties, but polycrystalline micro and nanostructures are interesting for applications in nano-optics. Moreover, we discuss the photoluminescence properties of SiV centers in phosphorous-doped diamond, which are relevant for the creation of electroluminescent devices, and nanophotonics strategies to improve the emission characteristics of the SiV centers. Finally, the optical properties of such centers at room and high temperatures show the robustness of the center and give perspectives for temperature-sensing applications.

DOI: 10.3389/fphy.2020.601362

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Silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in diamond are gaining an increased interest for application, such as in quantum technologies and sensing. Due to the strong luminescence concentrated in its sharp zero-phonon line at room temperature, SiV centers are being investigated as single-photon sources for quantum communication, and also as temperature probes for sensing. Here, we discussed strategies for the fabrication of SiV centers in diamond based on Si-ion implantation followed by thermal activation. SiV color centers in high-quality single crystals have the best optical properties, but polycrystalline micro and nanostructures are interesting for applications in nano-optics. Moreover, we discuss the photoluminescence properties of SiV centers in phosphorous-doped diamond, which are relevant for the creation of electroluminescent devices, and nanophotonics strategies to improve the emission characteristics of the SiV centers. Finally, the optical properties of such centers at room and high temperatures show the robustness of the center and give perspectives for temperature-sensing applications.

The silicon vacancy (SiV) color centers in diamond have significant potential in the fields of quantum information, nanophotonics, bioimaging and sensing, due to its good structural stability at room temperature, strong photostability, short luminescence lifetime, narrow zero-phonon line bandwidth, and avoidance of biological autofluorescence. They have attracted extensive attention and in-depth research from researchers. The applications of SiV color centers in the above areas require addressing key issues such as control over the number and charge state of SiV color centers in diamond, as well as improving the luminous efficiency. Therefore, this review summarizes some recent relevant research progress, including common methods for preparing SiV color centers, control over their luminescence intensity, preparation of SiV single-photon sources, and research on the control of SiV color center charge states. Based on these, an outlook is provided for the preparation and application of SiV color centers in diamond.

Abstract Silicon vacancy (SiV) centers in diamonds have attracted much attention because of their stability and narrow emission linewidth, and are promising for applications in quantum information technology. SiV-center-encapsulated nanodiamonds have also attracted much attention because of their potential to be coupled to various photonic devices. One efficient way to fabricate nanodiamonds that contain SiV centers is Si ion implantation into nanodiamonds. However, the evaluation of a single SiV center in a nanodiamond produced by this method at low temperatures has not been performed. In this study, we report on the optical properties of a single SiV center in a nanodiamond produced by ion implantation at cryogenic temperatures. The emission spectrum from a single SiV center ( g 2 ( 0 ) = 0.19 ) was observed with four distinct fine splittings of the zero-phonon line (ZPL) at 4 K. At an excitation power of 50 μ W, the full width at half maximum of the ZPL reached the spectrometer resolution limit (0.09 nm). The temperature dependence of the emission peak is consistent with that of the emission coming from an SiV center under high strain. The results obtained in this work suggest that nanodiamonds containing single SiV centers formed using this method will be an important building block for the realization of quantum information applications.

Among promising color centers for single-photon sources in diamond, the negatively charged silicon-vacancy (SiV − ) has 70% of its emission to the zero-phonon line (ZPL), in contrast to the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV − ), which has a broad spectrum. Fabricating single centers of useful defect complexes with high yield and excellent grown-in defect properties by ion implantation has proven to be challenging. We have fabricated bright single SiV − centers by 60-keV focused ion beam implantation and subsequent annealing at 1000 °C with high positioning accuracy and a high yield of 15%.

Nanodiamonds containing color centers have been attracting attention as a hybrid system with nanophotonic devices to realize photonic quantum information devices such as highly efficient single photon sources. In various color centers, silicon vacancy (SiV) centers are especially interesting because of high photo-stability, high brightness, high Debye-Waller factor (about 70%), and lifetime-limited fluorescence linewidth. The nanodiamonds containing SiV centers have been usually fabricated by milling large nanodiamonds with SiV centers, which are synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). However, this milling method has an issue with the production yield. Here, we report on the fabrication of SiV centers inside nanodiamonds by direct implantation of Si ions, which allows the creation at a high production yield due to no requirement of the milling process. By implanting Si ions into nanodiamonds (median size of 25 nm), we fabricate SiV centers exhibiting a narrow linewidth of about 7 nm at room temperature. This linewidth is more than twice as narrow as previous reports on the implantation of Si ions into nanodiamonds.

Electrically driven emission from negatively charged silicon-vacancy (SiV)− centers in single crystal diamond is demonstrated. The SiV centers were generated using ion implantation into an i region of a p-i-n single crystal diamond diode. Both electroluminescence and the photoluminescence signals exhibit the typical emission that is attributed to the (SiV)− centers. Under forward and reversed biased PL measurements, no signal from the neutral (SiV)0 defect could be observed. The realization of electrically driven (SiV)− emission is promising for scalable nanophotonics devices employing color centers in single crystal diamond.