Diamond in Advanced Technology with Optical Machining (DIATOM)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Engineering Science
Abstract
For centuries diamond has been highly sought after for manufacture into gem stones; the demand stems from its exemplary physical properties. Such remarkable characteristics also render diamond a promising host medium for many advanced technology applications. With recent breakthroughs in the manufacture of synthetic diamond substrates, the adoption of diamond into widespread device application is becoming ever more tangible. However, there is an urgent need for a scalable processing framework that can turn this hard, inert material into functional devices. In the course of this fellowship, I will develop a diverse toolkit based around laser fabrication which can fill this void. Through the use of short pulsed lasers and advanced optical techniques, accurate fabrication in three dimensions beneath the surface of diamond becomes possible.
Dependent on the laser power and how it is focused into the diamond, different processing regimes are possible. Electrically conductive wires may be printed in 3D running through the diamond, as can optical wires for routing light through the diamond. By reducing the laser power, it is possible to introduce just a single defect in the diamond lattice which can then be used as an information bit for quantum processing. Devices manufactured will include detectors of high energy radiation for use at CERN, 3D arrays of defects for quantum enhanced sensing and 3D photonic structures for manipulation of light. This will deliver a route to commercial diamond technology as well as a set of optical fabrication protocols that are transferable across wide technological areas.
The bulk of the work will be carried out at the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. There will be close collaboration though with partners at the Universities of Manchester, Warwick and Strathclyde, harnessing their unique capabilities to develop a complete photonics system for the creation of advanced technology devices in diamond.
Dependent on the laser power and how it is focused into the diamond, different processing regimes are possible. Electrically conductive wires may be printed in 3D running through the diamond, as can optical wires for routing light through the diamond. By reducing the laser power, it is possible to introduce just a single defect in the diamond lattice which can then be used as an information bit for quantum processing. Devices manufactured will include detectors of high energy radiation for use at CERN, 3D arrays of defects for quantum enhanced sensing and 3D photonic structures for manipulation of light. This will deliver a route to commercial diamond technology as well as a set of optical fabrication protocols that are transferable across wide technological areas.
The bulk of the work will be carried out at the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. There will be close collaboration though with partners at the Universities of Manchester, Warwick and Strathclyde, harnessing their unique capabilities to develop a complete photonics system for the creation of advanced technology devices in diamond.
Planned Impact
Scientific impact will be achieved through the use of advanced photonic processing to manufacture functional diamond devices, targeting key applications. The demonstration of device architectures that were previously impossible, providing enhanced functionality and performance will generate impact. Applications specifically outlined in the proposal include radiation detectors, defect arrays for quantum enhanced sensing and photonic devices.
I will additionally work with researchers in the UK and around the world to replicate the photonic system, which will enable proliferation of the technology and maximise impact. I am already actively pursuing this, by working with project partners University of Manchester to develop an advanced optical fabrication system purely for the manufacture of radiation detectors. This spread of the developed technology will aid those working in diamond science and other diverse disciplines, including biophotonics, metamaterials and medical technology.
There will be further scientific impact at a more fundamental level. This work is already pushing the boundaries of optical processing. The ability to induce single Angstrom level material modifications through fabrication with light at optical wavelengths is revolutionary. Furthermore, this probes the fundamental light matter interaction at high resolution, and can inform on material properties at the nanoscale.
Impact is also gained through collaboration. This fellowship will bring together UK scientists with a diverse skill set, and will use their expertise in new ways to solve difficult problems across a range of applications. International collaboration is specifically arranged to in crease the spread of ideas and technology.
Commercial impact from this work can be expected as the scientific impact gains recognition. I am already working with four separate companies on the application of laser processing for diamond devices. This can be expected to increase through the fellowship as the technology becomes more established. Key industrial links with Oxford Lasers Ltd and Element 6 are specifically included in the fellowship to aid the commercialisation of the technology.
The inherent appeal of diamond to the general public leads to many opportunities for outreach. As a member of the Early Career Outreach network at the University of Oxford, there are lots of opportunities to share ideas with members of the public and I will introduce ideas related to diamond technology. Further impact will hopefully be provided by helping to get more people across the UK interested in science and engineering.
I will additionally work with researchers in the UK and around the world to replicate the photonic system, which will enable proliferation of the technology and maximise impact. I am already actively pursuing this, by working with project partners University of Manchester to develop an advanced optical fabrication system purely for the manufacture of radiation detectors. This spread of the developed technology will aid those working in diamond science and other diverse disciplines, including biophotonics, metamaterials and medical technology.
There will be further scientific impact at a more fundamental level. This work is already pushing the boundaries of optical processing. The ability to induce single Angstrom level material modifications through fabrication with light at optical wavelengths is revolutionary. Furthermore, this probes the fundamental light matter interaction at high resolution, and can inform on material properties at the nanoscale.
Impact is also gained through collaboration. This fellowship will bring together UK scientists with a diverse skill set, and will use their expertise in new ways to solve difficult problems across a range of applications. International collaboration is specifically arranged to in crease the spread of ideas and technology.
Commercial impact from this work can be expected as the scientific impact gains recognition. I am already working with four separate companies on the application of laser processing for diamond devices. This can be expected to increase through the fellowship as the technology becomes more established. Key industrial links with Oxford Lasers Ltd and Element 6 are specifically included in the fellowship to aid the commercialisation of the technology.
The inherent appeal of diamond to the general public leads to many opportunities for outreach. As a member of the Early Career Outreach network at the University of Oxford, there are lots of opportunities to share ideas with members of the public and I will introduce ideas related to diamond technology. Further impact will hopefully be provided by helping to get more people across the UK interested in science and engineering.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- Heriot-Watt University (Collaboration)
- University of Warwick (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Collaboration)
- Oxford Lasers (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- University of Warwick (Project Partner)
- Element Six (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- University of Strathclyde (Project Partner)
People |
ORCID iD |
Patrick Salter (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Wang M.
(2023)
Femtosecond laser written integrated photonics on sapphire
in 2023 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO 2023
Salter PS
(2024)
Laser Engineering Nanocarbon Phases within Diamond for Science and Electronics.
in ACS nano
Xu A
(2023)
Laser-Written Tunable Liquid Crystal Aberration Correctors
in ACS Photonics
Cheng X
(2023)
Additive GaN Solid Immersion Lenses for Enhanced Photon Extraction Efficiency from Diamond Color Centers.
in ACS photonics
Shi Y
(2020)
Two-Photon Laser-Written Photoalignment Layers for Patterning Liquid Crystalline Conjugated Polymer Orientation
in Advanced Functional Materials
Zhao Z
(2022)
Multielement Polychromatic 2D Liquid Crystal Dammann Gratings
in Advanced Materials Technologies
Sandford O'Neill J
(2022)
3D Switchable Diffractive Optical Elements Fabricated with Two-Photon Polymerization
in Advanced Optical Materials
He C
(2022)
Revealing complex optical phenomena through vectorial metrics
in Advanced Photonics
Barré N
(2023)
Direct laser-written aperiodic photonic volume elements for complex light shaping with high efficiency: inverse design and fabrication
in Advanced Photonics Nexus
Bisch N
(2019)
Adaptive optics aberration correction for deep direct laser written waveguides in the heating regime
in Applied Physics A
Gintoli M
(2020)
Spinning disk-remote focusing microscopy.
in Biomedical optics express
Lawton PF
(2019)
Multi-plane remote refocusing epifluorescence microscopy to image dynamic Ca 2 + events.
in Biomedical optics express
Chen B
(2022)
Laser Written Stretchable Diffractive Optic Elements in Liquid Crystal Gels
in Crystals
Haughton I
(2021)
Barrier potential for laser written graphitic wires in diamond
in Diamond and Related Materials
Bloomer C
(2020)
A single-crystal diamond X-ray pixel detector with embedded graphitic electrodes.
in Journal of synchrotron radiation
Sun B
(2022)
On-chip beam rotators, adiabatic mode converters, and waveplates through low-loss waveguides with variable cross-sections.
in Light, science & applications
Salter PS
(2019)
Adaptive optics in laser processing.
in Light, science & applications
Shu Y
(2021)
Nanoscale Bilayer Mechanical Lithography Using Water as Developer.
in Nano letters
Chen YC
(2019)
Laser Writing of Scalable Single Color Centers in Silicon Carbide.
in Nano letters
Sandford O'Neill JJ
(2020)
Electrically-tunable positioning of topological defects in liquid crystals.
in Nature communications
Reichmann M
(2020)
New test beam results of 3D and pad detectors constructed with poly-crystalline CVD diamond
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Chen Y
(2019)
Laser writing of individual nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond with near-unity yield
in Optica
Barré N
(2021)
Tomographic refractive index profiling of direct laser written waveguides.
in Optics express
Corbett AD
(2018)
Microscope calibration using laser written fluorescence.
in Optics express
Will T
(2020)
Trimming laser-written waveguides through overwriting.
in Optics express
Cui J
(2022)
Generalised adaptive optics method for high-NA aberration-free refocusing in refractive-index-mismatched media.
in Optics express
Wang M
(2022)
Single-mode sapphire fiber Bragg grating.
in Optics express
Fells JAJ
(2022)
Dynamic phase measurement of fast liquid crystal phase modulators.
in Optics express
Salter PS
(2018)
Femtosecond fiber Bragg grating fabrication with adaptive optics aberration compensation.
in Optics letters
Kirkpatrick AR
(2024)
Ab initio study of defect interactions between the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centre and the carbon self-interstitial in diamond.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Stephen C
(2019)
Deep Three-Dimensional Solid-State Qubit Arrays with Long-Lived Spin Coherence
in Physical Review Applied
Arshad M
(2024)
Real-time adaptive estimation of decoherence timescales for a single qubit
in Physical Review Applied
Griffiths B
(2021)
Microscopic processes during ultrafast laser generation of Frenkel defects in diamond
in Physical Review B
Wallny R.
(2023)
Progress in Diamond Detector Development
in Proceedings of Science
Cheng Z
(2021)
Antimony thin films demonstrate programmable optical nonlinearity.
in Science advances
Wallny R
(2023)
Progress in Diamond Detectors
Wang M
(2021)
Single-mode sapphire fiber Bragg grating
Gintoli M
(2020)
Spinning Disk -- Remote Focusing Microscopy
Description | We have extended the use of laser written graphite conductors embedded inside diamond to new applications and new device designs. New research networks have been set up with Diamond Light Source, UCL, Princeton and Cadiz to exploit these advances. We have also shown how laser processing can be used to deterministically create single defect colour centres inside diamond that are useful for quantum technology. These can be fabricated in an all-optical process at very high yield, and display excellent coherence properties. New avenues of research and technology have been opened up by transferring techniques developed in the award to new field, particularly in the manufacture of calibration devices for microscopes, liquid crystal photonics and integrated optical feedback during laser manufacturing. |
Exploitation Route | There are many new directions for the research in embedded graphite electrical conductors. Work is still needed to fully understand the conduction mechanism and correlate with the structural modifications. These can then be taken forward to optimise device performance and design. These advances can then be expected to translate into industrial use of such devices. The laser written colour centres developed in this award has opened up a new research field which is being pursued by multiple international research groups. Work is focusing on analysis of the colour centres and incorporation into external architectures appropriate for quantum information processing. Work is also being pursued to fabricate new defects and to control defect density. Our techniques are patented and licensed and we are starting to see industrial adoption. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Description | This award has developed advanced optical techniques for laser manufacturing, specifically related to processing of diamond devices. This has created a range of impact both within academia, but also more widely in society. An important impact arising from the award is the development of laser security marking for gemstones. This has been commercialised through associated spin-out company Opsydia, who are providing machines to international customers. Subsurface laser written identifiers can now be found in many commercial diamond gemstones, providing a secure record of provenance and quality, without affecting the optical grade of the stone. This benefits both the UK economy through employment in advanced manufacturing, and the consumer sector who can now have more confidence in their purchased goods. |
First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
Sector | Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | EPSRC Early Career Forum in Manufacturing |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
URL | https://ecfmanufacturing.com/ |
Description | EPSRC Capital Award in Support of Early Career Researchers |
Amount | £34,312 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S017658/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2019 |
End | 03/2020 |
Description | Multiscale multidimensional integrated imaging for precision laser processing (M2I2) |
Amount | £863,618 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/W025256/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2022 |
End | 11/2025 |
Title | Fluorescence calibration specimen |
Description | This is a tool which is useful in the alignment and calibration of fluorescence microscopes, which are widely used for biological imaging. We use a laser fabrication process to accurately write fluorescent structures inside a plastic sample. This tool can save system time and improve the quantitative analysis of images. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This tool has been fabricated and delivered to numerous different research groups in the UK and abroad, who are using it for routine alignment and calibration of their microscopes. |
URL | http://www.psfcheck.com |
Description | Electrical devices in diamond |
Organisation | University College London |
Department | Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Laser fabrication of electrical devices in diamond for sensing in harsh environments. |
Collaborator Contribution | Device design and testing |
Impact | Papers and patents in preparation. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Heriot-Watt |
Organisation | Heriot-Watt University |
Department | Physics |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Laser processing inside silicon carbide substrates for applications in quantum technology |
Collaborator Contribution | Measurements on devices, lithography of substrates prior to laser manufacture |
Impact | Work ongoing and papers in preparation. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | University of Exeter |
Organisation | University of Exeter |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | My team uses advanced laser fabrication techniques to manufacture devices for the calibration of fluorescence microscopes. |
Collaborator Contribution | The team of Alex Corbett at the University of Exeter carries out quality control analysis of the fabricated devices and organises distribution to interested parties. |
Impact | The partnership is multi-disciplinary, bringing together expertise in bioimaging and laser processing. The results of the collaboration have been presented at international conferences and in the following papers: 10.1364/OE.26.021887; 10.1364/boe.389904; 10.1364/BOE.10.005611 As part of the PSFCheck initiative, we distribute devices for accurate calibration of biological microscopes. The devices are distributed via University of Exeter and provided at cost. To date, over 200 devices have been distributed to users in industry and academia. This feeds into a community desire and need to monitor data reliability and reproducibility in biological imaging. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | University of Manchester |
Organisation | University of Manchester |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | My team at the University of Oxford uses advanced laser fabrication techniques to manufacture arrays of graphitic wires inside diamond substrates for use as detectors of high energy particles. |
Collaborator Contribution | The team at the University of Manchester provide designs for the devices and interfaces the laser written wires with read-out electronics. They also provide access to sources of high energy particles for device testing and analysis. |
Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary, combining expertise in particle physics (Manchester) with laser manufacturing at Oxford. The collaboration has produced >5 prototype devices that have been tested. Results have been presented at international conferences and in 4 publications: 10.1016/j.diamond.2017.06.014 and 10.1016/j.nima.2016.04.052; 10.1016/j.diamond.2020.108164; 10.1016/j.nima.2019.162675. Through this work, I was invited to join the RD42 collaboration at CERN in June 2022. I am responsible for the laser processing of the 3D diamond detectors, which are scheduled to be installed in the BCM' detector as part of the LHCb upgrade. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | University of Warwick |
Organisation | University of Warwick |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This collaboration is exploring the use of laser writing for fabrication of diamond devices for quantum technology. My team is engaged in the laser fabrication of nitrogen vacancy qubits inside the diamond. |
Collaborator Contribution | The laser written diamond devices are processed and analysed by the team at University of Warwick under the supervision of Dr Gavin Morley and Prof Mark Newton. The processing constitutes high temperature annealing while the analysis incorporates a range of fluorescence microscopy. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, combining laser fabrication expertise at Oxford with quantum technology expertise at Warwick. The collaboration has resulted two high impact papers 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.12.064005 and 10.1364/OPTICA.6.000662. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Company Name | OPSYDIA LIMITED |
Description | Opsydia uses advanced optical techniques to deliver laser processing solutions inside difficult samples. Particular application areas relate to security marking, where Opsydia is set to disrupt a number of industries by its ability to create practically invisible structures inside transparent materials. Permanent and inimitable serial numbers, images or cryptographic data can be laser-written without compromising the integrity of the material or modifying its surface. Material applications include diamond, glass and polymers. |
Year Established | 2017 |
Impact | Opsydia technology is being adopted by one of the world's leading diamond groups, De Beers Group, as part of its new lab-grown diamond initiative, Lightbox Jewelry. The subsurface laser marks both prevent the stones used in the jewellery from being passed off as natural, and serve as a guarantee of quality. Opsydia won the 2019 Start-up Award from the Institute of Physics Business awards in October 2019. Opsydia won the Oxford Innovation Startup Award at the 2019 Oxford Trust Enterprise Awards in September 2019. |
Website | http://www.opsydia.com |
Description | Quantum Showcase |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | We ran a stand at the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase, where delegates could learn more about the laser writing technique applied to diamond quantum technology. Delegates were able to remotely control the laser fabrication system in Oxford to write their own quantum bit inside a piece of diamond. More than 100 qubits were successfully written. The event helped to raise awareness of the fabrication technique among the the UK industrial quantum community. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://uknqt.epsrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/ |