Engineering chromium related single photon emitters in single crystal diamond

TL;DR

This paper explores methods to create chromium-related single photon emitters in diamond, highlighting ion implantation techniques and the influence of nitrogen levels on successful fabrication for quantum technology applications.

Contribution

It introduces fabrication protocols for chromium centers in diamond using ion implantation and identifies nitrogen concentration as a key factor affecting success.

Findings

Chromium centers can be fabricated via ion implantation with oxygen or sulfur.

Background nitrogen levels significantly influence the formation probability.

Successful creation of emitters depends on controlled implantation and nitrogen concentration.

Abstract

Color centers in diamond as single photon emitters, are leading candidates for future quantum devices due to their room temperature operation and photostability. The recently discovered chromium related centers are particularly attractive since they possess narrow bandwidth emission and a very short lifetime. In this paper we investigate the fabrication methodologies to engineer these centers in monolithic diamond. We show that the emitters can be successfully fabricated by ion implantation of chromium in conjunction with oxygen or sulfur. Furthermore, our results indicate that the background nitrogen concentration is an important parameter, which governs the probability of success to generate these centers.