Fabrication of a nanometer thick nitrogen delta doped layer at the sub-surface region of (100) diamond

In this letter, we report on the proof of a concept of an innovative deltadoping technique to fabricate an ensemble of nitrogen vacancy centers at shallow depths in (100)diamond. A nitrogen deltadoped layer with a concentration of ∼1.8 × 1020 cm−3 and a thickness of a few nanometers was produced using this method. Nitrogen deltadoping was realized by producing a stable nitrogen terminated (N-terminated)diamond surface using the RFnitridation process and subsequently depositing a thin layer ofdiamond on the N-terminateddiamond surface. The concentration of nitrogen on the N-terminateddiamond surface and its stability upon exposure tochemical vapor deposition conditions are determined byx-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. TheSIMS profile exhibits a positive concentration gradient of 1.9  nm/decade and a negative gradient of 4.2 nm/decade. The proposed method offers a finer control on the thickness of the deltadoped layer than the currently used ion implantation and deltadoping techniques.

Source: Applied Physics Letters - December 2, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: Maneesh Chandran, Shaul Michaelson, Cecile Saguy and Alon Hoffman Source Type: research