Surface Chemistry of Diamond for Quantum Applications

The surface of diamond plays is crucial for its properties. The surface governs characteristics such as wettability, zetapotential, interactions with molecules, aggregation behaviour etc., but also lattice defects such as the NV or the SiV center can be influenced in their charge states by the nature of the surface termination or the attachment of functional moieties. Surface functionalization can be also applied to establish groups required for sensing applications in which lattice defects are applied as luminescent or spin sensors.<br/>It is thus very important to properly control the surface groups and to develop methods for the efficient and highly reproducible functionalization of diamond materials.<br/>Here, methods for the initial termination of diamond with different atoms such as fluorine, hydrogen and different oxygenated groups will be reported. Further, the attachment of larger functional moieties applicable as sensors, for the prevention of non-specific interactions in biological environments and other applications will be shown. Additionally, highly sensitive methods for the quantitative assessment of surface groups will be presented.