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Mechanism of vacancy complex formation during annealing in diamond

Establish the atomistic mechanisms and kinetics by which monovacancies (V1) become mobile during annealing after ion implantation and form multi-vacancy complexes (e.g., divacancy V2, tri-vacancy V3, tetra-vacancy V4) in diamond, including the relevant diffusion pathways, reaction rates, and defect species produced.

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Background

The paper uses a quantum electrometer based on the SnV center in diamond to localize charge traps and analyze charge dynamics at the lattice scale. In identifying material properties, the authors attribute observed charge traps to vacancy complexes formed during annealing after ion implantation.

They note that the formation process of such vacancy complexes during annealing is not well understood, highlighting a fundamental materials science problem whose resolution would improve defect engineering and noise mitigation strategies in diamond and related wide-bandgap materials.

References

During annealing, V1 becomes mobile and can form vacancy complexes, a process not well understood and an active area of research 54–56.

— Quantum Electrometer for Time-Resolved Material Science at the Atomic Lattice Scale (2401.14290 - Pieplow et al., 25 Jan 2024) in Main text, Section “IDENTIFYING MATERIAL PROPERTIES: DIVACANCY FORMATION” (Fig. 5(a))