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

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.

Imaging dark charge emitters in diamond via carrier-to-photon conversion

“…Briefly, we use a focused (~1 m diameter) highenergy accelerator to implant N or Si ions in an electronic-grade diamond crystal (DDK) with a starting nitrogen concentration of ≲5 parts per billion (ppb); the beam energy in either case (20 MeV for N and 45 MeV for Si) corresponds to a depth of ~10 m, sufficient to rule out potential surface effects in our observations. We use variable ion beam fluences to create islands with different color center content: For nitrogen, the range goes from 1 × 10 8 ions/cm 2 (roughly corresponding to ~2 ions per implantation site) to 5× 10 11 ions/cm 2 , whereas, for silicon, we used greater fluences of up to 5 × 10 13 ions/cm 2 so as to compensate for the lower SiV conversion efficiency (20)(21)(22)(23). Upon implantation, we followed a known annealing protocol (24) to simultaneously convert nitrogen and silicon atoms into NV and SiV centers.…”

The Role of PIXE and XRF in Heritage Science: The INFN-CHNet LABEC Experience

“…IBA activities related to fundamental physics and other disciplines have been carried out at the INFN-LABEC since its foundation in 2004. Tests of detectors for nuclear and particle physics [1][2][3], studies of ion-matter interaction for solid state physics [4] and compositional measurements for heritage science (HS) [5], and environmental aerosol science [6] are just some examples of the diverse applications. Those activities have been conducted thanks to the six beamlines of the TANDETRON accelerator: the external beamline for aerosol measurements [7]; the external microbeam line [8]; the pulsed beamline [9,10]; the ion beam analysis beamline in vacuum [11]; the external beamline for cultural heritage measurements; and the atomic mass spectrometry beamline for 14 C dating [12].…”

Efficient Analysis of Photoluminescence Images for the Classification of Single-Photon Emitters

“…This manual procedure is sufficient for the study of a few emitters, but efforts to screen engineered defects or bulk crystals to study the SPE’s formation or statistical properties underscore the need for an automatic detection method. Analyzing engineered defects created through ion implantation, − electron irradiation, , annealing, , or specialized growth schemes , often requires detecting hundreds of potential SPE. It is especially time consuming to investigate randomly located and often sparse emitters throughout three-dimensional (3D) bulk crystals, and a thorough evaluation of all potential emitters is crucial for characterizing a novel material with unknown defect populations.…”