Perfectly aligned shallow ensemble nitrogen-vacancy centers in (111) diamond
At a Glance
Section titled âAt a Glanceâ| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2017-07-24 |
| Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
| Authors | Hitoshi Ishiwata, Makoto Nakajima, Kosuke Tahara, Hayato Ozawa, Takayuki Iwasaki |
| Institutions | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| Citations | 56 |
Abstract
Section titled âAbstractâWe report the formation of perfectly aligned, high-density, shallow nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers on the (111) surface of a diamond. The study involved step-flow growth with a high flux of nitrogen during chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth, which resulted in the formation of a highly concentrated (>1019 cmâ3) nitrogen layer approximately 10 nm away from the substrate surface. Photon counts obtained from the NV centers indicated the presence of 6.1 Ă 1015-3.1 Ă 1016 cmâ3 NV centers, which suggested the formation of an ensemble of NV centers. The optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectrum confirmed perfect alignment (more than 99%) for all the samples fabricated by step-flow growth via CVD. Perfectly aligned shallow ensemble NV centers indicated a high Rabi contrast of approximately 30% which is comparable to the values reported for a single NV center. Nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance demonstrated surface-sensitive nuclear spin detection and provided a confirmation of the NV centersâ depth. Single NV center approximation indicated that the depth of the NV centers was approximately 9-10.7 nm from the surface with error of less than ±0.8 nm. Thus, a route for material control of shallow NV centers has been developed by step-flow growth using a CVD system. Our finding pioneers on the atomic level control of NV center alignment for large area quantum magnetometry.