Diamond sensors, detectors, and quantum devices

• US 8,758,509 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2012
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Element Six (Holdings) Ltd. (Anglo American PLC)
• Original Assignee: Element Six (Holdings) Ltd. (Anglo American PLC)
• Inventors: Twitchen, Daniel James, Markham, Matthew Lee
• Primary Examiner(s): Kunemund, Bob M
• Application Number:
  US14/115,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20140077231A1
• Time in Patent Office: 775 Days
• Field of Search: 117/86, 117/104, 117/929, 423/446
• US Class Current: 117/86
• 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 29/04 Diamond
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 29/64 Flat crystals, e.g. plates, strips or discs
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 31/22 by ion-implantation
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 33/08 Etching
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 24/10 by using electron paramagnetic resonance G01N24/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/24 for measuring direction or magnitude of magnetic fields or magnetic flux
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/302 Miniaturized sample handling arrangements for sampling small quantities, e.g. flow-through microfluidic NMR chips
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/60 using electron paramagnetic resonance G01R33/24, G01R33/62 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 10/00 Quantum computing, i.e. information processing based on quantum-mechanical phenomena
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0405 the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising semiconducting carbon, e.g. diamond, diamond-like carbon multistep processes for the manufacture of said devices H01L29/66015
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/157 Doping structures, e.g. doping superlattices, nipi superlattices delta doping in general H01L29/365
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/1602 Diamond
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/167 further characterised by the doping material H01L29/1604 takes precedence

Abstract

A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material, the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material having: a thickness in a range 100 nm to 50 μιη; a concentration of quantum spin defects greater than 0.1 ppb (parts-per-billion); a concentration of point defects other than the quantum spin defects of below 200 ppm (parts-per-million); and wherein at least one major face of the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material comprises surface termination species which have zero nuclear spin and/or zero electron spin.

Claims

1. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material, the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material having:

a thickness in a range 100 nm to 50 μ

m;

a concentration of negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy defects (NV⁻

) equal to or greater than 100 ppb (parts-per-billion);

a concentration of point defects other than the NV⁻

defects of below 200 ppm (parts-per-million);

a total nitrogen concentration equal to or greater than 10 ppm;

a concentration of all non-nitrogen point defects equal to or less than 1 ppm;

wherein at least one major face of the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material comprises surface termination species which have zero nuclear spin and/or zero electron spin; and

wherein the product of the concentration of NV⁻

defects and decoherence time T₂ in the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material is at least 0.1 ppm μ

s.

2. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material is in a range:

500 nm to 30 μ

m, 1 μ

m to 20 μ

m, or 5 μ

m to 10 μ

m.

3. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of NV⁻

defects is equal to or greater than 1 ppm, 5 ppm, 10 ppm, or 30 ppm.

4. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of NV⁻

defects is equal to or less than 200 ppm, 150 ppm, 100 ppm, or 50 ppm.

5. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein an average projected planar distance between NV⁻

defects is equal to or greater than 500 nm, 1 μ

m, 2 μ

m, 5 μ

m, 8 μ

m, 10 μ

m, 20 μ

m, or 50 μ

m.

6. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of point defects other than the NV⁻

defects is equal to or less than 150 ppm 100 ppm, 50 ppm, 20 ppm, 10 ppm, or 5 ppm.

7. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein a total nitrogen concentration is equal to or greater than 20 ppm, 50 ppm, 100 ppm, 150 ppm, 200 ppm, 250 ppm, 300 ppm, 400 ppm, or 600 ppm and wherein a concentration of all non-nitrogen point defects is equal to or less than 1/10, 1/100, or 1/1000 of these levels.

8. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material has one or more of the following characteristics:

(1) a birefringence in a direction perpendicular to the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material equal to or less than 5×

10<sup>−

5</sup>, 1×

10<sup>−

5</sup>, 5×

10<sup>−

6</sup>, or 1×

10<sup>−

6</sup>;

(2) a density of extended defects as characterised by X-ray topography equal to or less than 400 per cm², 300 per cm², 200 per cm², or 100 per cm²;

(3) a FWHM (“

Full Width at Half Maximum”

) X-ray rocking curve width for a (004) reflection equal to or less than 50 arc seconds, 20 arc seconds, 10 arc seconds, 7 arc seconds, 5 arc seconds, 3 arc seconds, 2 arc seconds, or 1.5 arc seconds. wherein birefringence in a direction perpendicular to the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material is equal to or less than 5×

10<sup>−

5</sup>, 1×

10<sup>−

5</sup>, 5×

10<sup>−

6</sup>, or 1×

10<sup>−

6</sup>.

9. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the synthetic single crystal diamond material is synthetic HPHT single crystal diamond material.

10. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein both major faces of the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material comprise surface termination species which have zero nuclear spin and/or zero electron spin.

11. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the surface termination species have zero nuclear spin and zero electron spin.

12. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the NV⁻

defects have a decoherence time T₂ equal to or greater than 0.05 ms, 0.1 ms, 0.3 ms, 0.6 ms, 1 ms, 5 ms, or 15 ms, with corresponding T₂* values equal to or less than 400 μ

s, 200 μ

s, 150 μ

s, 100 μ

s, 75 μ

s, 50 μ

s, 20 μ

s, or 1 μ

s.

13. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the product of the concentration of NV⁻

defects and decoherence time T₂ is at least 1 ppm μ

s, 10 ppm μ

s, 20 ppm μ

s, 30 ppm μ

s, 50 ppm μ

s, 100 ppm μ

s, 200 ppm μ

s, 500 ppm μ

s, 1000 ppm μ

s, or 5000 ppm μ

s.

14. A thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1, wherein the thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material is formed wholly from the synthetic single crystal diamond material.

15. A device comprising:

a device component comprising a thin plate of synthetic single crystal diamond material according to claim 1; and

a light source for optically pumping one or more of the NV⁻

defects in the synthetic single crystal diamond material.