Evidence for Primal sp 2 Defects at the Diamond Surface: Candidates for Electron Trapping and Noise Sources
Journal
Advanced Materials Interfaces
Journal Volume
6
Journal Issue
3
ISSN
21967350
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Stacey, Alastair
Dontschuk, Nikolai
Broadway, David A.
Schenk, Alex K.
Sear, Michael J.
Tetienne, Jean-Philippe
Hoffman, Alon
Prawer, Steven
Pakes, Chris I.
Tadich, Anton
de Leon, Nathalie P.
Gali, Adam
Hollenberg, Lloyd C. L.
Abstract
Many advanced applications of diamond materials are now being limited by unknown surface defects, including in the fields of high power/frequency electronics and quantum computing and quantum sensing. Of acute interest to diamond researchers worldwide is the loss of quantum coherence in near-surface nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers and the generation of associated magnetic noise at the diamond surface. Here for the first time is presented the observation of a family of primal diamond surface defects, which is suggested as the leading cause of band-bending and Fermi-pinning phenomena in diamond devices. A combination of density functional theory and synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy is used to show that these defects introduce low-lying electronic trap states. The effect of these states is modeled on band-bending into the diamond bulk and it is shown that the properties of the important NV defect centers are affected by these defects. Due to the paramount importance of near-surface NV center properties in a growing number of fields, the density of these defects is further quantified at the surface of a variety of differently-treated device surfaces, consistent with best-practice processing techniques in the literature. The identification and characterization of these defects has wide-ranging implications for diamond devices across many fields. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Subjects
defects
diamond
Fermi-level pinning
NEXAFS
surfaces
Publisher
Wiley-VCH Verlag
Description
Article number 1801449
Type
journal article