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SPIE Quantum Technologies

Creation of low-charge-noise nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond with solid-immersion lens-assisted laser writing

Viktoria Yurgens, Josh A. Zuber, Sigurd Flågan, Marta De Luca, Brendan Shields, Ilaria Zardo, Patrick Maletinsky, Richard John Warburton, Tomasz Jakubczyk

Published Jun 3, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is among the most promising solid-state systems implementations of a quantum bit. However, integration of the NV center into any efficient photonic environment requires microstructuring the diamond at below-micrometer scale. Preserving the low NV zero-phonon line inhomogeneous broadening during this process is a major challenge with standard NV creation methods. This issue severely limits practical applications of NV centers. Initial studies on pulsed-laser assisted creation of NVs yielded promising results by creating NVs with low inhomogeneous broadening at desired spatial locations in diamond [1]. Crucially, the lattice damage resulting from implantation of energetic ions was avoided. However, the method relied on a narrow window of parameters for successful writing. We widen this window by using a solid immersion lens (SIL), which facilitates laser writing over a broad range of pulse energies and allows for vacancy formation close to a diamond surface without inducing surface graphitization. We operate in the previously unexplored regime where lattice vacancies are created following tunneling breakdown rather than multiphoton ionization [2]. We present NV arrays that have been created between 1 and 40 µm from a diamond surface, all presenting optical linewidth distributions with means as low as 61.0±22.8 MHz [2], including spectral diffusion induced by off-resonant repump for charge stabilization. This emphasizes the exceptionally low charge-noise environment of laser-written NVs. Such high-quality NV centers are excellent candidates for practical applications employing two-photon quantum interference with separate NV centers. Finally, we propose a model for disentangling power broadening from inhomogeneous broadening in the NV zero-phonon line optical linewidth [2]. [1] Y.-C. Chen, P. S. Salter, S. Knauer, … and J. M. Smith, Nat. Photonics 11, 77 (2017). [2] V. Yurgens, J.A Zuber, S. Flågan, M. De Luca, B.J. Shields, I. Zardo, P. Maletinsky, R.J. Warburton, and T. Jakubczyk, ACS Photonics 8, 1726–1734 (2021)

DOI
10.1117/12.2622388

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The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is among the most promising solid-state systems implementations of a quantum bit. However, integration of the NV center into any efficient photonic environment requires microstructuring the diamond at below-micrometer scale. Preserving the low NV zero-phonon line inhomogeneous broadening during this process is a major challenge with standard NV creation methods. This issue severely limits practical applications of NV centers. Initial studies on pulsed-laser assisted creation of NVs yielded promising results by creating NVs with low inhomogeneous broadening at desired spatial locations in diamond [1]. Crucially, the lattice damage resulting from implantation of energetic ions was avoided. However, the method relied on a narrow window of parameters for successful writing. We widen this window by using a solid immersion lens (SIL), which facilitates laser writing over a broad range of pulse energies and allows for vacancy formation close to a diamond surface without inducing surface graphitization. We operate in the previously unexplored regime where lattice vacancies are created following tunneling breakdown rather than multiphoton ionization [2]. We present NV arrays that have been created between 1 and 40 µm from a diamond surface, all presenting optical linewidth distributions with means as low as 61.0±22.8 MHz [2], including spectral diffusion induced by off-resonant repump for charge stabilization. This emphasizes the exceptionally low charge-noise environment of laser-written NVs. Such high-quality NV centers are excellent candidates for practical applications employing two-photon quantum interference with separate NV centers. Finally, we propose a model for disentangling power broadening from inhomogeneous broadening in the NV zero-phonon line optical linewidth [2]. [1] Y.-C. Chen, P. S. Salter, S. Knauer, … and J. M. Smith, Nat. Photonics 11, 77 (2017). [2] V. Yurgens, J.A Zuber, S. Flågan, M. De Luca, B.J. Shields, I. Zardo, P. Maletinsky, R.J. Warburton, and T. Jakubczyk, ACS Photonics 8, 1726–1734 (2021)
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide We report on pulsed-laser-induced generation of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond facilitated by a solid-immersion lens (SIL). The SIL enables laser writing at energies as low as 5.8 nJ per pulse and allows vacancies to be formed close to a diamond surface without inducing surface graphitization. We operate in the previously unexplored regime, where lattice vacancies are created following tunneling breakdown rather than multiphoton ionization. We present three samples in which NV center arrays were laser-written at distances between ∼1 and 40 μm from a diamond surface, all presenting narrow distributions of optical linewidths with means between 62.1 and 74.5 MHz. The linewidths include the effect of long-term spectral diffusion induced by a 532 nm repump laser for charge-state stabilization, thereby emphasizing the particularly low-charge-noise environment of the created color centers. Such high-quality NV centers are excellent candidates for practical applications employing two-photon quantum interference with separate NV centers. Finally, we propose a model for disentangling power broadening from inhomogeneous broadening in the NV center optical linewidth.
We report on pulsed-laser induced and solid-immersion lens (SIL) assisted generation of nitrogen-vacancy centers (NVs) in diamond. The NVs are characterized by a narrow distribution of the optical transition linewidth peaked around 50 MHz. This includes the effect of long-term spectral diffusion caused by a necessary repump green laser. Such high-quality NVs are excellent candidates for practical implementations employing two-photon quantum interference with separate NV centers. The perspective of implementation of these NVs in open microcavities will be discussed.
The nitrogen-vacancy center (NV) in diamond, with its exceptional spin coherence and convenience in optical spin initialization and readout, is increasingly used both as a quantum sensor and as a building block for quantum networks. Employing photonic structures for maximizing the photon collection efficiency in these applications typically leads to broadened optical linewidths for the emitters, which are commonly created via nitrogen ion implantation. With studies showing that only native nitrogen atoms contribute to optically coherent NVs, a natural conclusion is to either avoid implantation completely or substitute nitrogen implantation by an alternative approach to vacancy creation. Here, we demonstrate that implantation of carbon ions yields a comparable density of NVs as implantation of nitrogen ions and that it results in NV populations with narrow optical linewidths and low charge-noise levels even in thin diamond microstructures. We measure a median NV linewidth of 150 MHz for structures thinner than 5 μm, with no trend of increasing linewidths down to the thinnest measured structure of 1.9 μm. We propose a modified NV creation procedure in which the implantation is carried out after instead of before the diamond fabrication processes and confirm our results in multiple samples implanted with different ion energies and fluences.
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.
We report the observation of stable optical transitions in nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers created by ion implantation. Using a combination of high temperature annealing and subsequent surface treatment, we reproducibly create NV centers with zero-phonon lines (ZPL) exhibiting spectral diffusion that is close to the lifetime-limited optical line width. The residual spectral diffusion is further reduced by using resonant optical pumping to maintain the NV(-) charge state. This approach allows for placement of NV centers with excellent optical coherence in a well-defined device layer, which is a crucial step in the development of diamond-based devices for quantum optics, nanophotonics, and quantum information science.
Abstract The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centre (so-called NV-centre) in diamond is one of the most promising systems for applications in quantum technologies because of the possibility to optically manipulate and read out the spin state of this defect, even at room temperature. Nevertheless, obtaining high NV densities (>500 ppb) close to the surface (5–20 nm) while maintaining good spin properties remain challenging. In this work we rely on a versatile ion implantation system allowing both implanting nitrogen using N 2 + and creating vacancies with He + ion bombardment at variable energies and fluence to create shallow NV ensembles. By optimizing the ion irradiation conditions as well as the surface preparation prior to treatment we successfully increase the amount of created colour centres while demonstrating narrow magnetic resonance linewidths.