Luminescence Properties of SiV-centers in diamond diodes

The silicon vacancy center in diamond is a promising candidate for future quantum applications, but its physical properties are not studied sufficiently yet. Therefore, in this PhD work, the electroluminescence properties and possibilities for charge state control are explored.

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The silicon-vacancy center (SiV-center) is a promising candidate for quantum-physical applications due to its physical properties. It shows a narrowband emission and high photo-stability already at ambient conditions. Contrary to the well-known and extensively studied nitrogen-vacancy center, the physical properties of the SiV-center are not known well enough for actual applications. Especially the possibility of electrical excitation and the luminescence properties of different charge-states of the SiV-center are not sufficiently proven. The present work intends to narrow this gap. For that, electroluminescence experiments on pin- and Schottky-diodes were performed allowing to overcome the limits of optical excitation for future devices. Additionally, experiments for exploring the luminescence properties of the silicon-vacancy center at different surface terminations (hydrogen-, oxygen-, and fluorine-termination) were conducted. For a more detailed investigation of the SiV charge states, a two-dimensional Schottky-diode was fabricated from diamond, allowing to control the charge states actively and examine the resulting optical properties of the silicon-vacancy center.