Neutral silicon vacancy centers in undoped diamond via surface control

TL;DR

This paper presents a surface chemistry method to stabilize neutral silicon vacancy centers in undoped diamond, enabling scalable quantum technologies without the need for high-purity boron-doped diamond.

Contribution

It introduces a surface control technique using chemical processing and hydrogen annealing to achieve stable SiV0 centers in undoped diamond, bypassing the need for boron doping.

Findings

Achieved reversible charge state tuning of SiV centers

Demonstrated optically detected magnetic resonance in SiV0

Enabled stable optical properties in undoped diamond

Abstract

Neutral silicon vacancy centers (SiV0) in diamond are promising candidates for quantum networks because of their long spin coherence times and stable, narrow optical transitions. However, stabilizing SiV0 requires high purity, boron doped diamond, which is not a readily available material. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach via chemical control of the diamond surface. We use low-damage chemical processing and annealing in a hydrogen environment to realize reversible and highly stable charge state tuning in undoped diamond. The resulting SiV0 centers display optically detected magnetic resonance and bulk-like optical properties. Controlling the charge state tuning via surface termination offers a route for scalable technologies based on SiV0 centers, as well as charge state engineering of other defects.