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Spin-lattice relaxation of NV centers in nanodiamonds adsorbed on conducting and nonconducting surfaces

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2025-05-21
JournalPhysical review. B./Physical review. B
AuthorsNULL AUTHOR_ID, Yuri Tanuma, Ćœiga Gosar, Bastien AnĂ©zo, Mariusz MrĂłzek
InstitutionsUniversity of Ljubljana, Jagiellonian University

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in nanodiamonds can be utilized as low-cost, highly versatile quantum sensors for studying surface properties in condensed matter physics through the application of relaxometry protocols. For such applications, a detailed knowledge of the intrinsic relaxation processes of NV centers in nanodiamonds is necessary. Here, we study the spin-lattice relaxation rates of NV ensembles in nanodiamonds with average diameters of 40 nm and 3 <a:math xmlns:a=“http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML”&gt;&lt;a:mrow&gt;&lt;a:mo&gt;&micro;&lt;/a:mo&gt;&lt;a:mi mathvariant=“normal”>m</a:mi></a:mrow></a:math> between room temperature and <c:math xmlns:c=“http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML”&gt;&lt;c:mrow&gt;&lt;c:mo&gt;∌&lt;/c:mo&gt;&lt;c:mn&gt;6&lt;/c:mn&gt;&lt;c:mspace width=“3.33333pt”/><c:mi mathvariant=“normal”>K</c:mi></c:mrow></c:math>. The NV relaxation curves fit to a stretched-exponential form with a stretching exponent <f:math xmlns:f=“http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML”&gt;&lt;f:mrow&gt;&lt;f:mi&gt;α&lt;/f:mi&gt;&lt;f:mo&gt;≈&lt;/f:mo&gt;&lt;f:mn&gt;0.7&lt;/f:mn&gt;&lt;/f:mrow&gt;&lt;/f:math>, implying the large distribution of relaxation times of individual centers within nanodiamonds. We determine the Orbach-like scattering on phonons as the leading relaxation mechanism. Finally, we discuss the viability of nanodiamonds as surface sensors when deposited on a metallic substrate and emphasize the need for well-controlled surface preparation techniques.

  1. 1986 - The Principles of Nuclear Magnetism