Efficient creation of shallow NV$^-$ ensembles by high-angle ion implantation

Abstract:Negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV$^-$) centers located a few nanometers below the diamond surface are key quantum defects for nanoscale sensing of external spins. However, the creation of shallow NV$^-$ centers with high yield remains a materials challenge. Here, we demonstrate that high-angle ion implantation enhances the creation efficiency of shallow NV$^-$ centers. By implanting $^{15}$N ions at angles exceeding 60$^\circ$, we achieve high NV$^-$ yields approaching 10% with effective NV$^-$ depths below 10 nm. These yields are significantly higher than those typically reported for shallow NV$^-$ creation. The enhanced NV$^-$ yield is consistent with an increased vacancy-to-nitrogen ratio in the near-surface region, which is expected to promote NV formation during annealing. The created NV$^-$ ensembles show coherence properties comparable to those of single shallow NV$^-$ centers at similar depths, and allow detection of nuclear spins in van der Waals materials attached to the diamond surface. Our results establish geometric control of ion implantation as a simple and broadly applicable approach to engineer shallow vacancy-related quantum defects.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)

arXiv:2609.22937 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2609.22937v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.22937 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 086202 (2026)

https://doi.org/10.1103/d8vg-ntsg Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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