Diamond has been widely explored in the last years as a possible hosting platform for single photon sources  due to the availability of several classes of optically active defects (usually referred to as “color centers”) that can be suitably engineered in its crystal structure. 

To date, the most prominent type of defect is the so-called negatively-charged nitrogen-vacancy center (NV), due to several key features of this system, namely: photo-stability at room temperature, high quantum efficiency and most importantly unique spin properties with great potential for applications in quantum sensing and computing. The need for single-photon emitters displaying desirable opto-physical properties (high emission rate, narrow linewidth) has also motivated the discovery and characterization of several classes of optical centers in diamond alternative to the NV complex, based (among others) on group-IV elements impurities (Si, Ge, Sn, Pb [1]), noble gases (He [2], Xe [3]) etc. In this context, ion implantation represents a powerful and versatile tool to engineer a broad range of different types of color centers, allowing for the fine control of key parameters such as ion species and energy, as well as irradiation fluence to determine the type and density of defect complexes. 

 Although up to now, the number of the emitters characterized by a reproducible fabrication process is fairly 

limited, and a systematic investigation in this field is still to be finalized. Thus, the fabrication of novel luminescent defects with desirable properties upon the implantation of selected ion species still represents a crucial strategy to achieve further advances in the field. 

In the present contribution a systematic study on several novel color centers in diamond will be reported, namely on the fabrication of Sn-[4], Pb-[5], F-[6] and Mg-related [7] color centers. 

 This work represents a relevant progress in the study of diamond color centers, both in the attribution of an articulated series of spectral features and in the understanding of the formation process of these types of defects, thus clarifying the potential of these systems for high-impact applications in quantum technologies. 

 Further an overview of the 100 keV ion implanter recently installed at the Physics Department laboratories will be provided. 

 

References 

1. C. Bradac et al., Nature Communication 2019, 5625 (2019).
2. J. Forneris et al., Journal of Luminescence, 179, 59-63 (2016)
3. R. Sandstrom et al., Optics Communications, 411, 1, 182-186 (2018)
4. E. Corte et al., Adv. Photonics Res. 3, 2100148 (2022)
5. S. Ditalia Tchernij et al., New J. Phys. 23 063032 (2021)
6. S. Ditalia Tchernij et al., Scientific Reports, 10, 1, 21537 (2020)
7. E. Corte et al., ACS Photonics, 2023, 10(1), pp. 101–110