Statistical investigations on nitrogen-vacancy center creation

Quantum information technologies require networks of interacting defect bits. Color centers, especially the nitrogen vacancy (NV−) center in diamond, represent one promising avenue, toward the realisation of such devices. The most successful technique for creating NV− in diamond is ion implantation followed by annealing. Previous experiments have shown that shallow nitrogen implantation (<10 keV) results in NV− centers with a yield of 0.01%–0.1%. We investigate the influence of channeling effects during shallow implantation and statistical diffusion of vacancies using molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Energy barriers for the diffusion process were calculated using density functional theory. Our simulations show that 25% of the implanted nitrogens form a NV center, which is in good agreement with our experimental findings.