Sub-10 nm precision engineering of solid-state defects via nanoscale aperture array mask

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel method for creating nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond with sub-10 nm precision using nanoscale aperture arrays combined with electron-beam masking, advancing scalable quantum device fabrication.

Contribution

It introduces a new fabrication technique combining nanoscale aperture arrays and E-beam masks for precise NV center placement in diamond.

Findings

Achieved sub-10 nm precision in NV center placement.

Demonstrated the effectiveness of the technique through optical and spin measurements.

Discussed scalability potential for quantum systems.

Abstract

Engineering a strongly interacting uniform qubit cluster would be a major step towards realizing a scalable quantum system for quantum sensing, and a node-based qubit register. For a solid-state system that uses a defect as a qubit, various methods to precisely position defects have been developed, yet the large-scale fabrication of qubits within the strong coupling regime at room temperature continues to be a challenge. In this work, we generate nitrogen vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond with sub-10 nm scale precision by using a combination of nanoscale aperture arrays (NAAs) with a high aspect ratio of 10 and a secondary E-beam hole pattern used as an ion-blocking mask. We perform optical and spin measurements on a small cluster of NV spins and statistically investigate the effect of the NAAs during an ion-implantation process. We discuss how this technique is effective for constructing a scalable system.