AI Insight
Researchers at Kanazawa University and Diamond and Carbon Applications have developed a new buried-growth process for creating nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond with controlled positioning and orientation in two-dimensional arrays. The method uses microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition combined with nitrogen-radical selective etching, which simultaneously strengthens metal masks through nitridation, allowing both etching and growth steps to occur in a single continuous process. This advancement enables precise fabrication of diamond qubits, which are quantum defects used in quantum computing and sensing applications.
Why it matters
This technique could significantly improve the scalability and manufacturing precision of diamond-based quantum devices. Controlled arrays of NV centers are essential for developing practical quantum computers, quantum sensors, and quantum communication networks, making this process a potential enabler for commercial quantum technologies.
Researchers at Kanazawa University, in collaboration with Diamond and Carbon Applications (Germany), have developed a buried-growth process for nitrogen–vacancy (NV) centers in diamond using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). By employing nitrogen-radical selective etching, which simultaneously enhances metal-mask durability through nitridation, the team enabled a continuous etching–growth sequence within a single MPCVD process.
Source: New buried-growth process enables 2D arrays of position- and orientation-controlled diamond qubits