Temperature-dependent excited state lifetimes of nitrogen vacancy centers in individual nanodiamonds

At a Glance

Metadata	Details
Publication Date	2021-12-20
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Authors	Dinesh K. Bommidi, Andrea D. Pickel
Institutions	University of Rochester
Citations	14

Abstract

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers are fluorescent defects widely employed for thermometry, most commonly via temperature-dependent shifts of their optically detected magnetic resonance. Recently, all-optical approaches based on temperature-dependent features of the NV center fluorescence spectrum have also gained traction. Excited state lifetime thermometry is an all-optical technique that has been implemented using other fluorophores but has not previously been demonstrated for NV centers in individual nanodiamonds (NDs). Here, we report temperature-dependent excited state lifetime measurements of NV centers in individual NDs between 300 K and 500 K. We measure a 32 ± 7.0% and 35 ± 8.3% average decrease in the excited state lifetimes of individual NDs on silicon and glass substrates, respectively, over this temperature range. A linear approximation applicable to nearly all measured NDs yields temperature coefficients of −2000 ± 240 ppm/K and −2600 ± 280 ppm/K for NDs on silicon and glass, respectively. In addition to all-optical operation, single-ND excited state lifetime thermometry offers ∼100 ns temporal resolution and utilizes time-correlated single photon counting measurements ideally suited to low emission intensities, a limiting factor for other NV center thermometry techniques above 700 K. We demonstrate that atomic force microscope nanomanipulation can position individual NDs at critical locations on a sample of interest, enabling single-point temperature measurements that combine ∼100 ns temporal resolution and ∼100 nm spatial resolution. This work also has broader implications for other single-ND excited state lifetime sensing applications, where care is required to avoid conflating changes in temperature and other environmental parameters.

Tech Support

Original Source

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0072357

References

2014 - Quantum Information Processing with Diamond: Principles and Applications