Laser writing of individual atomic defects in a crystal with near-unity yield

TL;DR

This paper presents a laser-based technique for precisely creating individual nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, enabling controlled defect engineering for quantum technology applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel laser writing method with online feedback for deterministic placement of NV centers in diamond.

Findings

High-yield, precise placement of NV centers achieved

Provides new insights into defect diffusion dynamics

Enables scalable fabrication of quantum devices

Abstract

Atomic defects in wide band gap materials show great promise for development of a new generation of quantum information technologies, but have been hampered by the inability to produce and engineer the defects in a controlled way. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color center in diamond is one of the foremost candidates, with single defects allowing optical addressing of electron spin and nuclear spin degrees of freedom with potential for applications in advanced sensing and computing. Here we demonstrate a method for the deterministic writing of individual NV centers at selected locations with high positioning accuracy using laser processing with online fluorescence feedback. This method provides a new tool for the fabrication of engineered materials and devices for quantum technologies and offers insight into the diffusion dynamics of point defects in solids.