Direct formation of nitrogen-vacancy centers in nitrogen doped diamond along the trajectories of swift heavy ions

Lake RE, Persaud A, Christian C, Barnard ES, Chan EM, Bettiol AA, Tomut M, Trautmann C, Schenkel T

Abstract

Depth-resolved photoluminescence measurements of nitrogen-vacancy (NV−) centers formed along the tracks of swift heavy ions (SHIs) were performed in type Ib synthetic single crystal diamonds that had been doped with 100 ppm nitrogen during crystal growth. Analysis of the spectra shows that NV−centers are formed preferentially within regions where electronic stopping processes dominate and not at the end of the ion range where elastic collisions lead to the formation of vacancies and defects. Thermal annealing further increases NV yields after irradiation with SHIs preferentially in regions with high vacancy densities.