SYNTHETIC DIAMOND MATERIALS FOR QUANTUM AND OPTICAL APPLICATIONS AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME

• US 20150299894A1
• Filed: 12/04/2013
• Published: 10/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Element Six Technologies US Corporation (Anglo American PLC), President and Fellows of Harvard College (Harvard Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Element Six (Holdings) Ltd. (Anglo American PLC), President and Fellows of Harvard College (Harvard Corporation)
• Inventors: Yacoby, Amir, Park, Hongkun, Loncar, Marko, Lukin, Mikhail D., Markham, Matthew, Stacey, Alastair, DeLeon, Nathalie, Chu, Yiwen, Shields, Brendan John, Hausmann, Birgit Judith Maria, Maletinsky, Patrick, Evans, Ruffin Eley
• Granted Patent: US 9,518,336 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 1/04 Isothermal recrystallisation
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 25/02 Epitaxial-layer growth
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 29/04 Diamond
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 30/00 Production of single crystals or homogeneous polycrystalline material with defined structure characterised by the action of electric or magnetic fields, wave energy or other specific physical conditions
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 33/02 Heat treatment C30B33/04, C30B33/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/6497 Miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/64 Fluorescence; Phosphorescence
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 10/00 Quantum computing, i.e. information processing based on quantum-mechanical phenomena

Abstract

A synthetic diamond material comprising one or more spin defects having a full width half maximum intrinsic inhomogeneous zero phonon line width of no more than 100 MHz. The method for obtain such a material involves a multi-stage annealing process.

Claims

1. A synthetic diamond material comprising one or more spin defects having a full width half maximum intrinsic inhomogeneous zero phonon line width of no more than 100 MHz,

wherein the full width half maximum intrinsic inhomogeneous zero phonon line width is averaged over one or both of:

at least 10 seconds; and

at least 10 spectral scans,

wherein the synthetic diamond material is CVD synthetic diamond material, and

wherein the one or more spin defects are NV⁻

spin defects.

2. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the full width half maximum intrinsic inhomogeneous zero phonon line width is no more than 40 MHz.

3. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the full width half maximum intrinsic inhomogeneous zero phonon line width is averaged over at least 100 seconds.

4. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the full width half maximum intrinsic inhomogeneous zero phonon line width is averaged over at least 100 spectral scans.

5. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the one or more spin defects are located no more than 1 μ

m from a surface of the synthetic diamond material.

6. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the synthetic diamond material comprises a layer of said spin defects, the layer comprising at least 10⁵ spin defects/cm² and having a thickness no more than 1 μ

m.

7. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 6, wherein the thickness of said layer is no more than 100 nm.

8. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 5, wherein said layer comprises 10⁵ spin defects/cm² to 10¹¹ spin defects/cm².

9. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, wherein at least 50%, of the spin defects have a total spectral line width of less than 100 MHz.

10. A synthetic diamond material according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more spin defects have a decoherence time T₂ at room temperature of at least 500 μ

s.

14. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, further comprising one or more photonic structures fabricated in the synthetic diamond material.

15. A synthetic diamond material according to claim 14, wherein the one or more spin defects are located no more than 1 μ

m from the one or more photonic structures or within the one or more photonic structures.

18. A method of fabricating a synthetic diamond material according to claim 1, the method comprising:

selecting a synthetic diamond material comprising a single substitutional nitrogen concentration of no more than 100 ppb; and

annealing the synthetic diamond material using a multi-stage annealing process comprising;

a first annealing step at a temperature in a range 350 to 450°

C. for at least 2 hours;

a second annealing step at a temperature in a range 750 to 900°

C. for at least 2 hours; and

a third annealing step at a temperature in a range 1150°

C. to 1550°

C. for at least 2 hours.

23. A method according to claim 18, further comprising implanting a layer of nitrogen into the synthetic diamond material prior to the multi-stage annealing process.

24. A method according to claim 18, further comprising irradiating the synthetic diamond material prior to the multi-stage annealing process to form vacancy defects.

25. A diamond-based quantum system comprising:

a synthetic diamond material according to claim 1;

an excitation arrangement configured to optically excite one or more spin defects in the synthetic diamond material; and

a detector arrangement configured to detect photon emission from the one or more spin defects.

11-13. -13. (canceled)

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26. (canceled)