Formation of Fluorine Vacancy (FV) Centers in Diamond

Diamond has been extensively examined as an appealing material for use in quantum optics and quantum information processing owing to the existence of various classes of optically active defects, referred to as "color centers," which can be engineered into its crystal structure. Among these defects, the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy center (NV^-) stands out as the most prominent type. Despite the progress made, the number of emitters characterized by reproducible fabrication processes within the desired spectral range at room temperature, with limited or no damage to the parent diamond lattice, remains restricted. Herein, we are proposing for the first time the creation of the FV^- center in diamond via low-energy implantation, which is particularly interesting as it possesses characteristic light absorption and magnetic properties similar to NV^- centers. The low-energy ion-implanted FV centers in diamond show more desirable optical emission properties at room temperature (RT). Additionally, as per DFT calculations, the flat bands near the Fermi energy indicate dominant electron-electron interactions, an important prerequisite for observing emergent behavior as seen in systems such as twisted bi-layer graphene. Consequently, as-developed new luminescent defects such as Fluorine Vacancy Centers (FV) with desirable spectral and quantum emission properties would be a significant breakthrough in diamond-based quantum materials.