Harsh Environment-Immune All-Carbon Visible Light Photodetector: Sensitivity Improvement by Nitrogen-Vacancy Center Density Enhancement Through Electron Irradiation

A novel all-carbon visible light detector is fabricated on a nitrogen-doped (N-doped) single-crystalline diamond (SCD) with interdigitated nanocarbon ohmic contacts. It has been posited that the formation of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers within the photoabsorption layer serves as an effective strategy to augment the device's detection capabilities. To illustrate the significance of this enhancement, NV density is manipulated and augmented by electron beam irradiation in a moderately N-doped diamond. Despite the incompetent nitrogen doping, the enhancement of NV density in the diamond active layer has resulted in a substantial enhancement of nearly 1.5 orders of magnitude for several critical detection parameters. The NV-enabled all-carbon detector demonstrates a high degree of tolerance toward thermal and corrosive environments. The dark current is maintained at a level below 0.01 pA even when the device is operated at a temperature of 250 degrees C. The robust interfacial bonding between the diamond and the nanocarbon-interdigitated electrodes ensures that the device exhibits no physical or performance deterioration when subjected to highly corrosive environments. The results of this study may provide insights that can inform the development of high-sensitivity, harsh environment immune diamond visible light detectors benefiting from the multiple photon excitation of NV quantum centers.