Formation of nitrogen-vacancy centers in 4H-SiC and their near infrared photoluminescence properties

NCVSi- centers in SiC [nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers], which produce near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature, is expected to have applications as quantum sensors for in vivo imaging and sensing. To realize quantum sensing using NV centers, clarification of the formation mechanism as well as control of the high-density formation is necessary. This paper reports a comprehensive investigation on the NIR-PL properties originating from NV centers in high purity semi-insulating and nitrogen (N) contained 4H-SiC substrates formed by ion beam irradiation and subsequent thermal annealing. It is shown that NV centers are exclusively formed by the contained N as impurities rather than the implanted N, and also the heavier ion irradiations induce the NV center formation effectively than the lighter ion irradiations. The study on thermal annealing at different temperatures reveals that the optimal temperature is 1000 degrees C. From the results of temperature dependence on the PL intensity, it is shown that little thermal quenching of the PL intensity appears at room temperature and the PL signal is collected even at 783K. The formation mechanism of NV centers is also discussed based on the obtained results. Published under license by AIP Publishing.