Improving the creation of SiV centers in diamond via sub-µs pulsed annealing treatment

Silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in diamond are emerging as promising quantum emitters in applications such as quantum communication and quantum information processing. Here, we demonstrate a sub-µs pulsed annealing treatment that dramatically increases the photoluminescence of SiV centers in diamond. Using a silane-functionalized adamantane precursor and a laser-heated diamond anvil cell, the temperature and energy conditions required to form SiV centers in diamond were mapped out via an optical thermometry system with an accuracy of ±50 K and a 1 µs temporal resolution. Annealing scheme studies reveal that pulsed annealing can obviously minimize the migration of SiV centers out of the diamond lattice, and a 2.5-fold increase in the number of emitting centers was achieved using a series of 200-ns pulses at a 50 kHz repetition rate via acousto-optic modulation. Our study provides a novel pulsed annealing treatment approach to improve the efficiency of the creation of SiV centers in diamond.

Yan-Kai Tzeng, Feng Ke, Chunjing Jia, Yayuan Liu, Sulgiye Park, Minkyung Han, Mungo Frost, Xinxin Cai, Wendy L. Mao, Rodney C. Ewing, Yi Cui, Thomas P. Devereaux, Yu Lin, Steven Chu