1111.5055 (Julian Schwartz et al.)

Effects of low energy electron irradiation on formation of
nitrogen-vacancy centers in single-crystal diamond    [PDF]

Julian Schwartz, Shaul Aloni, D. Frank Ogletree, Thomas Schenkel

Exposure to beams of low energy electrons (2 to 30 keV) in a scanning electron microscope locally induces formation of NV-centers without thermal annealing in diamonds that have been implanted with nitrogen ions. We find that non-thermal, electron beam induced NV-formation is about four times less efficient than thermal annealing. But NV-center formation in a consecutive thermal annealing step (800C) following exposure to low energy electrons increases by a factor of up to 1.8 compared to thermal annealing alone. These observations point to reconstruction of nitrogen-vacancy complexes induced by electronic excitations from low energy electrons as an NV-center formation mechanism and identify local electronic excitations as a means for spatially controlled room-temperature NV-center formation.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.5055