Splitting of photo-luminescent emission from nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond induced by ion-damage-induced stress

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how ion-induced stress in diamond can split the nitrogen-vacancy center's luminescent emission spectrum, enabling better control of NV- centers for quantum applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to induce and analyze spectral splitting of NV- emission via ion damage and strain engineering in diamond.

Findings

Spectral splitting of NV- emission up to 4.8 THz observed.

Distinct spectral components correspond to different NV- sub-ensembles.

Method enables creation and selection of aligned NV- centers for quantum info.

Abstract

We report a systematic investigation on the spectral splitting of negatively charged, nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) photo-luminescent emission in single crystal diamond induced by strain engineering. The stress fields arise from MeV ion-induced conversion of diamond to amorphous and graphitic material in regions proximal to the centers of interest. In low-nitrogen sectors of a HPHT diamond, clearly distinguishable spectral components in the NV- emission develop over a range of 4.8 THz corresponding to distinct alignment of sub-ensembles which were mapped with micron spatial resolution. This method provides opportunities for the creation and selection of aligned NV- centers for ensemble quantum information protocols.