Efficient growth of preferentially oriented N- ensemble in diamond
Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 024077 – Published 26 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/j49w-98p8
Abstract
The diamond nitrogen-vacancy (N-) center ensemble exhibits substantial potential for room-temperature quantum sensing. However, its practical implementation has long been limited by spectral line broadening and a reduced signal-to-noise ratio, which arise from multiaxis orientations of the N- centers. The (111) crystal plane is considered an optimal growth direction, as it enables near-perfect axial alignment of N- centers () and enhances photon collection efficiency. Nonetheless, the perfect alignment was maintained at the sacrifices, including low growth rates and limited nitrogen-to-N- conversion efficiencies. In this study, we demonstrate a microwave plasma chemical vapor process in which a growth rate of (14-fold enhancement to the highest previous record) was achieved with uniform N- ensemble distribution, an N- concentration of 0.54 ppm, and a nitrogen-to-N- conversion efficiency of 4.1%–4.7%. The resulting volume-normalized dc and ac magnetic field sensitivities reached and , respectively.