Neutral Silicon Vacancy Centers in Undoped Diamond via Surface Control
Zi-Huai Zhang, Josh A. Zuber, Lila V. H. Rodgers, Xin Gui, Paul Stevenson, Minghao Li, Marietta Batzer, Marcel.li Grimau Puigibert, Brendan Shields, Andrew M. Edmonds, Nicola Palmer, Matthew Markham, R. J. Cava, Patrick Maletinsky, Nathalie P. de Leon
Abstract
Neutral silicon vacancy centers (SiV^{0}) in diamond are promising candidates for quantum applications; however, stabilizing SiV^{0} requires high-purity, boron-doped diamond, which is not a readily available material. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach via chemical control of the diamond surface. We use low-damage chemical processing and annealing in a hydrogen environment to realize reversible and highly stable charge state tuning in undoped diamond. The resulting SiV^{0} centers display optically detected magnetic resonance and bulklike optical properties. Controlling the charge state tuning via surface termination offers a route for scalable technologies based on SiV^{0} centers, as well as charge state engineering of other defects.