Nitrogen and Luminescent Nitrogen‐Vacancy Defects in Detonation Nanodiamond

Abstract

An efficient method to investigate the microstructure and spatial distribution of nitrogen and nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) defects in detonation nanodiamond (DND) with primary particle sizes ranging from approximately 3 to 50 nm is presented. Detailed analysis reveals atomic nitrogen concentrations as high as 3 at% in 50% of diamond primary particles with sizes smaller than 6 nm. A non-uniform distribution of nitrogen within larger primary DND particles is also presented, indicating a preference for location within the defective central part or at twin boundaries. A photoluminescence (PL) spectrum with well-pronounced zero-phonon lines related to the N-V centers is demonstrated for the first time for electron-irradiated and annealed DND particles at continuous laser excitation. Combined Raman and PL analysis of DND crystallites dispersed on a Si substrate leads to the conclusion that the observed N-V luminescence originates from primary particles with sizes exceeding 30 nm. These findings demonstrate that by manipulation of the size/nitrogen content in DND there are prospects for mass production of nanodiamond photoemitters based on bright and stable luminescence from nitrogen-related defects.

Observation and control of blinking nitrogen-vacancy centres in discrete nanodiamonds

“…For example, theoretical calculations of the crystal energy budget favour the location of nitrogen on the surface rather than in the core, which seems to explain the limited observation of NV centres in chemical vapour deposition and high-pressure high-temperature grains of less than 40 nm in size 11,12 , and favours the prediction that nanodiamonds smaller than 10 nm in size do not contain NV centres 7,13 . Although sub-10-nm nanodiamonds with NV centres have been produced using a top-down approach (milling luminescent high-pressure hightemperature microdiamonds into 7-nm particles 6,14 ), the question of NV stability in isolated detonation nanodiamonds persists.…”

Nanodiamonds: From Synthesis and Purification to Deposition Techniques, Hybrids Fabrication and Applications

“…2.1). Similarly to bulk diamond, these chemical impurities are preferentially trapped onto structural defects, as shown for nitrogen by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) [55] and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy [56]. On the contrary, NDs produced from HPHT diamond exhibit less structural defects in their diamond core.…”

Distribution, Diffusion and Concentration of Defects in Colloidal Diamond

“…51 For many years, all available data pointed to a strong dependence on crystal size and the surface-tovolume ratio, and the optical emission from such defects was rarely seen in small diamond nanoparticles (o40 nm in diameter). 52,54 Photo-physical characteristics for 25 nm particles were later reported, 54 and most recently N-V emission from 5 nm detonation nanodiamond agglomerates 55 and isolated 8 nm diamonds 56 has been shown.…”