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Publication

Recent Advances in Diamond Science and Technology

Journal Contribution - Journal Editorial

It is our pleasure to present this Topical Section of Physica status solidi (a) highlighting recent advances in diamond science and technology. Diamond is an essential and foundational building block of many emerging fields of basic science and technical applications. It is at the heart of methods and concepts in quantum technologies-identified by the European Union as major research topic in its flagship program. Here, e.g. color centers like the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre or group-IV vacancy centers (G4V) are explored as sensors for magnetic and electric fields in quantum sensing or as local nodes and spin-photon interfaces in quantum communication scenarios. Such applications enormously profit from the advances in chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and high pressure high temperature (HPHT) growth of high purity single crystal diamond material with low defect density. The latter property, on the other hand, together with long-term research on the deterministic doping of diamond with the goal of creating semiconductor structures, drives the field of high-power and high-temperature device applications. Life sciences see nanodiamonds being developed as fluorescence markers with functionalized surfaces, agents for drug delivery and promotors of photocatalysis. Eventually, diamond material is widely used for detectors in medical diagnostic systems and high energy physics. Besides material development, a wide range of supporting techniques like ion implantation, nano-structur-ing, and targeted surface termination enable applications in (nano-)photonics, sensing, field emission sources, photocata-lytics and many more. This special issue presents a kaleidoscope of the fascinating various aspects of diamond for science and technology. We are pleased to highlight as the front cover the Feature Article by Shinya Ohmagari and co-workers on control of dislo-cations in diamond for the production of high-performance diamond electronics. [1] A major obstacle limiting diamond electronics is the occurrence of defects in the diamond material, which deteriorate device properties. The most frequent type of such defects, threading dislocations (TDs), are normally inherited from substrate to epitaxial layer such that control and annihilation of their propagation are important. In their article, Ohmagari et al. investigate a method named metal-assisted termination (MAT) technique to prevent TD propagation by in-situ metal doping. They find a large reduction of TD density and improved characteristics of an electronic device (Schottky barrier diode), paving the way towards realization of high-performance diamond electronics. We hope that this Feature Article and the Topical Section on "Recent Advances in Diamond Science and Technology" will broaden the basic knowledge of the field and help to inspire future research. We believe that this encourages not only the diamond community but also related and complementary research fields. Saarbrücken, and Hasselt,
Journal: PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI A-APPLICATIONS AND MATERIALS SCIENCE
ISSN: 1862-6300
Issue: 21
Volume: 216
Publication year:2019
Accessibility:Closed