Radiationless Creation and Patterning of Color Centers in Diamond

Spatially patterned and scalable creation of optical color centers remains a key bottleneck in fabrication for quantum computing and quantum sensing applications. Host lattice vacancies are necessary to form electronic defect states with transition energies in the visible light range. Current fabrication methods use high-energy ion irradiation to create these vacancies, leading to significant lattice damage and limited spatial control. I will present a new approach for creation and patterning of color centers in diamond without the use of irradiation. We demonstrate vacancy doping into diamond through the use of “vacancy injection” films. We also show the ability to pattern color centers on the nanoscale by using conventional photolithography to pattern film deposition. These methods enable a higher level of control for color center creation and decreased host lattice damage, as compared to methods that rely on high-energy irradiation. Additionally, this method provides a general strategy for controllably doping vacancies into a wide range of materials using conventional CMOS processing techniques, with potential applications in microelectronics and 2-D magnetic materials.