Molecular dynamics simulations of shallow nitrogen and silicon implantation into diamond

A solid understanding of the implantation process of N and Si ions into diamond is needed for the controlled creation of shallow color centers for quantum computing, simulation, and sensing applications. Here, molecular dynamics simulations of the shallow implantation of N and Si ions into diamond is simulated at 100-5000 eV kinetic energies and different angles of incidence. We find that ion channeling is an important effect with an onset energy depending on the crystal orientation. Consequently, the molecular dynamics simulations produce improved predictions as compared to standard Monte Carlo simulations. When implanting in a channeling direction, the spatial distribution of the channeled ions becomes markedly narrow, allowing a higher degree of control over the location of the nitrogen vacancy (NV-) centers. A contamination layer on the ion entry surface reduces the fraction of channeled ions. A comparison to an experimentally determined depth profile based on a NMR signal from protons yields a quantitative agreement, validating the simulation approach.