Creation of NV centers over a millimeter-sized region by intense single-shot ultrashort laser irradiation

In summary, the generation of NV centers in synthetic bulk

diamond was investigated using high-fluence and large-spot femtosecond laser pulses. NV centers were effectively created by singlepulse irradiation. Two focused-spot shapes, circular and linear, were

investigated; the latter may be useful to create NV centers rapidly

over a large region without post-annealing by line scanning. The

size of the created region was expanded for a higher laser fluence,

probably due to laser–diamond surface and laser–air interactions.

Furthermore, the NV center creation over a millimeter-sized spot

was demonstrated by a large defocused spot in a vacuum condition.

We expect that a raster scanning of the defocused spot with a suitable mask generates NV centers over a centimeter-sized region in a

short time. The spin-echo and FID signals showed that P1 centers

restricted the length of T 2 and T 2 ∗ for the irradiated region, and

single-pulse laser ablation had little influence on T 2 and T 2 ∗ .

The three-dimensional (3D) formation of high-dense NV centers will be the next step to realize the high-sensitive quantum sensor

by laser irradiation. So far, NV center formation over a large region

has been limited to a few methods, such as electron irradiation and

chemical vapor deposition. The present study showed that the laser

scanning of a linear spot might realize the rapid creation of NV centers in a 3D region. The ultrashort laser irradiation method may

pave the way for a new approach to creating NV centers over a wide

region.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful for financial support from the

(MEXT)-QLEAP project (Grant No. JPMXS0118070187), a Kakenhi

Grant-in-Aid (Grant No. 21H04653), and partial support from the

(MEXT)-QLEAP project (Grant No. JPMXS0118067395).

AUTHOR DECLARATIONS

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

Author Contributions

Masanori Fujiwara: Formal analysis (equal); Investigation (equal);

Writing – original draft (equal). Shunsuke Inoue: Data curation

(equal); Formal analysis (equal); Investigation (equal). Shin-ichiro

Masuno: Formal analysis (supporting); Investigation (supporting).

Haining Fu: Investigation (supporting). Shigeki Tokita: Project

administration (supporting); Resources (equal). Masaki Hashida:

Formal analysis (equal); Investigation (supporting); Methodology

(equal); Validation (equal); Writing – original draft (supporting).

Norikazu Mizuochi1: Funding acquisition (equal); Project administration (equal); Supervision (lead); Writing – review & editing

(lead).

DATA AVAILABILITY

The data that support the findings of this study are available

from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

APL Photon. 8, 036108 (2023); doi: 10.1063/5.0137093

© Author(s) 2023

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