Nitrogen-vacancy color centers created by proton implantation in a diamond

Abstract

We present an experimental study of the longitudinal and transverse relaxation of ensembles of negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV− ) centers in a diamond monocrystal prepared by 1.8 MeV proton implantation. The focused proton beam was used to introduce vacancies at a 20 µm depth layer. Applied doses were in the range of 1.5 × 1013 to 1.5 × 1017 ions / cm2 . The samples were subsequently annealed in vacuum which resulted in a migration of vacancies and their association with the nitrogen present in the diamond matrix. The proton implantation technique proved versatile to control production of nitrogen-vacancy color centers in thin films.