Evidence for Primal sp2 Defects at the Diamond Surface - Candidates for Electron Trapping and Noise Sources
At a Glance
Section titled âAt a Glanceâ| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2018-12-03 |
| Journal | Advanced Materials Interfaces |
| Authors | Alastair Stacey, Nikolai Dontschuk, JyhâPin Chou, David A. Broadway, Alex K. Schenk |
| Institutions | Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics |
| Citations | 112 |
Abstract
Section titled âAbstractâAbstract Many advanced applications of diamond materials are now being limited by unknown surface defects, including in the fields of high power/frequency electronics and quantum computing and quantum sensing. Of acute interest to diamond researchers worldwide is the loss of quantum coherence in nearâsurface nitrogenâvacancy (NV) centers and the generation of associated magnetic noise at the diamond surface. Here for the first time is presented the observation of a family of primal diamond surface defects, which is suggested as the leading cause of bandâbending and Fermiâpinning phenomena in diamond devices. A combination of density functional theory and synchrotronâbased Xâray absorption spectroscopy is used to show that these defects introduce lowâlying electronic trap states. The effect of these states is modeled on bandâbending into the diamond bulk and it is shown that the properties of the important NV defect centers are affected by these defects. Due to the paramount importance of nearâsurface NV center properties in a growing number of fields, the density of these defects is further quantified at the surface of a variety of differentlyâtreated device surfaces, consistent with bestâpractice processing techniques in the literature. The identification and characterization of these defects has wideâranging implications for diamond devices across many fields.