Spectral Emission Dependence of Tin‐Vacancy Centers in Diamond from Thermal Processing and Chemical Functionalization

Abstract

We report a systematic photoluminescence (PL) investigation of the spectral emission properties of individual optical defects fabricated in diamond upon ion implantation and annealing. Three spectral lines at 620 nm, 631 nm, and 647 nm are identified and attributed to the SnV center due to their occurrence in the PL spectra of the very same single-photon emitting defects. We show that the relative occurrence of the three spectral features can be modified by oxidizing the sample surface following thermal annealing. We finally report the relevant emission properties of each class of individual emitters, including the excited state emission lifetime and the emission intensity saturation parameters.

Magnesium-Vacancy Optical Centers in Diamond

“…The background-subtracted g (2) (τ) curves were fitted (black dashed lines in Figure c) according to the g (2) (τ) model corresponding to a three-level system: normalg false( 2 false) ( τ ) = 1 − ( 1 + a ) · exp ( − | τ | · γ 1 ) + a · exp ( − | τ | · γ 2 ) where γ 1 and γ 2 are the reciprocals of the characteristic times associated with the de-excitation of the excited state and the shelving state, respectively . The radiative lifetime of the center was finally estimated, by a linear fit of the γ 1 parameter against the excitation power P , as τ = [γ 1 ( P = 0)] −1 = (2.7 ± 0.3) ns (Figure d) . A statistical analysis based on 15 individual emitters acquired from the same region (Figure a) revealed a relatively small dispersion of the data with a weighted average lifetime of (2.4 ± 0.2) ns, in good agreement with the preliminary data reported in ref .…”

“…42 The radiative lifetime of the center was finally estimated, by a linear fit of the γ 1 parameter against the excitation power P, as τ = [γ 1 (P = 0)] −1 = (2.7 ± 0.3) ns (Figure 5d). 43 A statistical analysis based on 15 individual emitters acquired from the same region (Figure 6a) revealed a relatively small dispersion of the data with a weighted average lifetime of (2.4 ± 0.2) ns, in good agreement with the preliminary data reported in ref 25. The fitting function in eq 1 enabled us also to investigate the dependence of the γ 2 parameter on the power of the optical excitation.…”

Single photon sources for quantum radiometry: a brief review about the current state-of-the-art

“…It should be noted that other impurity centres in diamond, which show a more suitable spectral power distribution for calibration purposes, are currently under investigation. These are, e.g., the colours centres based on Silicon [34][35][36][37], Germanium [38,39], Tin [40][41][42][43], Fluorine [44,45], Helium [46] impurities and Lead vacancy centre [47][48][49][50], see also the overview article from Moreva et al [51]. In [52], Vaigu et al successfully used a single-photon source based on a SiV-centre in nanodiamond with an emission bandwidth of Δλ FWHM ≈ 2 nm for the determination of the detection efficiency of a Si-SPAD detector, however, a direct calibration against a reference detector could not be carried out, because of the low photon rate of approx.…”

Efficiency Optimization of Ge‐V Quantum Emitters in Single‐Crystal Diamond upon Ion Implantation and HPHT Annealing

“…One of the most significant limitations toward the reliable fabrication of group‐IV‐related emitters lies in the sub‐optimal incorporation of atomically large impurities in the highly dense host diamond crystal upon irradiation at keV energies, which results in substantial lattice distortions [ 34,35 ] and residual radiation damage [ 36,37 ] affecting their emission properties, despite the adoption of annealing post‐implantation processes up to 1200 °C temperature. A possible solution has been hinted for SnV and PbV centers by the adoption of high‐pressure high‐temperature (HPHT) post‐implantation annealing.…”

“…[19,[27][28][29] It is therefore crucial to define optimal post-implantation processing schemes, thus ensuring both the efficient formation of optically active color centers upon the implantation of individual ions [29][30][31] and guaranteeing optimal photon emission properties. [32,33] One of the most significant limitations toward the reliable fabrication of group-IV-related emitters lies in the sub-optimal incorporation of atomically large impurities in the highly dense host diamond crystal upon irradiation at keV energies, which results in substantial lattice distortions [34,35] and residual radiation damage [36,37] affecting their emission properties, despite the adoption of annealing post-implantation processes up to 1200 °C temperature. A possible solution has been hinted for SnV and PbV centers by the adoption of high-pressure hightemperature (HPHT) post-implantation annealing.…”