Physics

Carbon compounds

Alongside its ongoing work on the synthesis of nanocrystalline boron-doped diamond layers as a model system for thermoelectrical applications, the Buck group also added further projects to its research. After initial work on graphene synthesis with hot-filament CVD, the group was able to show that the processing time for single-layer graphene deposition on different substrates can be shortened within a wide parameter range to just a few minutes using microwave CVD; the combination of reduced synthesis time and large coated area has major benefits for the technological application of the material. The findings were published at the beginning of the year by Dr. Wöhrl in the open access journal AIP Advances.

A further research focus in the group is the cooperative project funded by MERCUR through the UAR on the “Generation and investigation of spin centres close to the surface of high-purity diamond”. The spin centre examined in this project is the nitrogen point defect; its spin has coherence times of up to 1.8 ms at room temperature and potential as a technically viable quantum system. The group is exploring the influence of the distance to the surface on its characteristics, especially the coherence time. The advantage of this system over other quantum systems in technical use lies in its comparatively easy preparation and manipulation.