Engineered arrays of NV color centers in diamond based on implantation of CN- molecules through nanoapertures

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to create nanoscale arrays of NV color centers in diamond using ion implantation through nanoapertures, enhancing defect yield and enabling potential quantum applications.

Contribution

The study introduces a versatile nanoengineering technique employing CN- molecules and electron beam lithography for controlled NV center array fabrication in diamond.

Findings

Increased NV defect formation yield using CN- molecule implantation.

Successful patterning of NV arrays with 80 nm aperture size.

Potential for integrating NV arrays with photonic microstructures.

Abstract

We report a versatile method to engineer arrays of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in dia- mond at the nanoscale. The defects were produced in parallel by ion implantation through 80 nm diameter apertures patterned using electron beam lithography in a PMMA layer deposited on a diamond surface. The implantation was performed with CN- molecules which increased the NV defect formation yield. This method could enable the realization of a solid-state coupled-spin array and could be used for positioning an optically active NV center on a photonic microstructure.