Low-Cost Synthetic Diamond Fabrication Could Step Up Quantum Tech

Using a thin tungsten layer as a restraining, conductive, removable hard mask, researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) developed a method for the fabrication of synthetic diamond. The developed material can be used for the photonic circuitry used in quantum technologies. The masking method is safe and inexpensive, and it uses the tungsten layer to pattern the diamond nanostructure that enables the creation of 1D photonic crystal cavities. Although the tungsten layer is only 30 nm wide, it can enable the creation of a diamond etch of over 300 nm. “For diamond to be used in quantum applications, we need to precisely engineer optical defects in the diamond devices — cavities and waveguides — to...