Project R-15013

Novel vacancy color centers in diamond nanomembranes (Research)

Diamond offers unique opportunities for quantum photonics, essentially due to its wide bandgap leading to the availability of numerous color centers. These are point defects in the crystal lattice that exhibit bright light emission from the ultraviolet to the infrared, which cannot be easily achieved within any other solid-state system. Group IV element color centers in diamond, i.e. Si-, Ge-, Snand Pbvacancy defects, have unique optical properties, which offer higher quantum efficiency and longer coherence time at higher than cryogenic temperature than other centers. However, it is tricky to obtain a controlled formation of these color centers in diamond. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique has the best opportunity to meet this challenge. This project aims at the creation of Ge, Sn, and Pb vacancy centers in nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) and investigate their optical properties. The CVD process of NCD has a larger operation window compared to single crystal diamond and thus gives a higher chance for success. The confinement by nanocrystallites and strain within NCD thin films bring new barely explored factors that affect the optical properties of color centers. To understand the role of strain, the NCD thin films will be transformed into nanomembranes, which have unique mechanical features and provide a possibility to explore the color centers in varying strain conditions, through bulging of a membrane, and a possibility to eliminate the impact of a substrate.

01 May 2024 - 30 April 2026