Ultrathin Nanocrystalline Diamond Films with Silicon Vacancy Color Centers via Seeding by 2 nm Detonation Nanodiamonds

High-Yield Production of SiV-Doped Nanodiamonds for Spectroscopy and Sensing Applications

Nanodiamonds (NDs) containing optically active centers have gained significant relevance as the material of choice for biological, optoelectronic, and quantum applications. However, current production methods lag behind their real needs. This study introduces two CVD-based approaches for fabricating NDs with optically active silicon-vacancy (SiV) color centers: bottom-up (BU) and top-down (TD) methods. The BU approach generates nanoporous diamond films with a core-shell structure, while the TD method employs molten-salt thermal etching to create uniform porous structures from nanocrystalline diamond films. Comprehensive characterization using advanced techniques revealed distinct morphologies and optical properties for each approach. The BU method yielded higher-quality diamond phases with top-surface incorporation of SiV centers, while the TD method demonstrated efficient nondiamond phase removal. Ultrasonic disintegration of both porous films produced NDs ranging from 40 to 500 nm, with unique morphologies characteristic of each approach. Photoluminescence measurements confirmed SiV centers (738 nm) in all NDs, exhibiting sensitivity to surface terminations, particularly in BU samples. Temperature-resolved spectroscopy shows the potential of the fabricated NDs for nano thermometry over a wide range of temperatures up to 100 °C. The zero-phonon line shows 0.022 ± 0.003 nm/K sensitivity, while the line width exhibits 0.068 ± 0.004 nm/K broadening. The presented BU and TD methods offer significant advantages over existing techniques, including streamlined production processes, high-yield ND synthesis with tailored properties, and the potential for scalable, cost-effective manufacturing.

Non-contact non-resonant atomic force microscopy method for measurements of highly mobile molecules and nanoparticles

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is nowadays indispensable versatile scanning probe method widely employed for fundamental and applied research in physics, chemistry, biology as well as industrial metrology. Conventional AFM systems can operate in various environments such as ultra-high vacuum, electrolyte solutions, or controlled gas atmosphere. Measurements in ambient air are prevalent due to their technical simplicity; however, there are drawbacks such as formation of water meniscus that greatly increases attractive interaction (adhesion) between the tip and the sample, reduced spatial resolution, and too strong interactions leading to tip and/or sample modifications. Here we show how the attractive forces in AFM under ambient conditions can be used with advantage to probe surface properties in a very sensitive way even on highly mobile molecules and nanoparticles. We introduce a stable non-contact non-resonant (NCNR) AFM method which enables to reliably perform measurements in the attractive force regime even in air by controlling the tip position in the intimate surface vicinity without touching it. We demonstrate proof-of-concept results on helicene-based macrocycles, DNA on mica, and nanodiamonds on SiO2. We compare the results with other conventional AFM regimes, showing NCNR advantages such as higher spatial resolution, reduced tip contamination, and negligible sample modification. We analyze principle physical and chemical mechanisms influencing the measurements, discuss issues of stability and various possible method implementations. We explain how the NCNR method can be applied in any AFM system by a mere software modification. The method thus opens a new research field for measurements of highly sensitive and mobile nanoscale objects under air and other environments.

Absolute energy levels in nanodiamonds of different origins and surface chemistries

Nanodiamonds (NDs) are versatile, broadly available nanomaterials with a set of features highly attractive for applications from biology over energy harvesting to quantum technologies. Via synthesis and surface chemistry, NDs can be tuned from the sub-micron to the single-digit size, from conductive to insulating, from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, and from positively to negatively charged surface by simple annealing processes. Such ND diversity makes it difficult to understand and take advantage of their electronic properties. Here we present a systematic correlated study of structural and electronic properties of NDs with different origins and surface terminations. The absolute energy level diagrams are obtained by the combination of optical (UV-vis) and photoelectron (UPS) spectroscopies, Kelvin probe measurements, and energy-resolved electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (ER-EIS). The energy levels and density of states in the bandgap of NDs are correlated with the surface chemistry and structure characterized by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. We show profound differences in energy band shifts (by up to 3 eV), Fermi level position (from p-type to n-type), electron affinity (from +0.5 eV to -2.2 eV), optical band gap (5.2 eV to 5.5 eV), band gap states (tail or mid-gap), and electrical conductivity depending on the high-pressure, high-temperature and detonation origin of NDs as well as on the effects of NDs' oxidation, hydrogenation, sp2/sp3 carbon phases and surface adsorbates. These data are fundamental for understanding and designing NDs' optoelectrochemical functional mechanisms in diverse application areas.

Etching Kinetics of Nanodiamond Seeds in the Early Stages of CVD Diamond Growth

We present an experimental study on the etching of detonation nanodiamond (DND) seeds during typical microwave chemical vapor deposition (MWCVD) conditions leading to ultra-thin diamond film formation, which is fundamental for many technological applications. The temporal evolution of the surface density of seeds on the Si(100) substrate has been assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The resulting kinetics have been explained in the framework of a model based on the effect of the particle size, according to the Young-Laplace equation, on both chemical potential of carbon atoms in DND and activation energy of the reaction with atomic hydrogen. The model describes the experimental kinetics of seeds' disappearance by assuming that nanodiamond particles with a size smaller than a "critical radius," r*, are etched away while those greater than r* can grow. Finally, the model allows to estimate the rate coefficients for growth and etching from the experimental kinetics.

Light emission dynamics of silicon vacancy centers in a polycrystalline diamond thin film

Diamond thin films can be, at a relatively low-cost, prepared with a high-density of light-emitting negatively charged silicon vacancy (SiV) centers, which opens up the possibility of their application in photonics or sensing. The films are composed of diamond grains with both the SiV centers and sp²-carbon phase, the ratio of these two components being dependent on the preparation conditions. The grain surface and the sp²-related defects might act as traps for the carriers excited within the SiV centers, consequently decreasing their internal photoluminescence (PL) quantum efficiency. Here, we show that in a 300 nm thick polycrystalline diamond film on a quartz substrate, the SiV centers in the diamond grains possess similar temperature-dependent (13-300 K) PL decay dynamics as the SiV centers in monocrystalline diamond, which suggests that most of the SiV centers are not directly interconnected with the defects of the diamond thin films, i.e. that the carriers excited within the centers do not leak into the defects of the film. The activation energy ΔE = 54 meV and the attempt frequency α = 2.6 were extracted from the measured data. These values corresponded very well with the published values for SiV centers in monocrystalline diamond. We support this claim by measuring the transient absorption via a pump and probe technique, where we separated the nanosecond recombination dynamics of carriers in SiV centers from the picosecond decay dynamics of polycrystalline diamond defects. Our results show that PL emission properties of SiV centers in polycrystalline diamond thin films prepared via chemical vapor deposition are very similar to those in monocrystalline diamond thereby opening the door for their application in diamond photonics and sensing.

Early stages of polycrystalline diamond deposition: laser reflectance at substrates with growing nanodiamonds

The chemical vapor deposition of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) films is typically done on substrates seeded with diamond nanoparticles. Specular laser reflectance has been used in tandem with a continuous film model to monitor the thickness of these films during their deposition. However, approaches to gain information on properties that strongly affect film morphology, such as the areal density of seeds, remain largely unexplored. This work outlines a strategy for using laser reflectance measurements to refine the monitoring of film thickness during deposition, estimate the mean equivalent radii and the areal density of seeds, and estimate growth incubation periods. We present a general model based on the Rayleigh theory of scattering for laser reflectance at substrates with growing nanoparticles that captures the early stages of PCD deposition. We test our model experimentally by depositing diamond under identical conditions on silicon substrates with various seed densities and by comparing seed densities obtained by scanning electron microscopy to those determined by our strategy. We also explore the different deposition stages for which our model and a continuous film model can be used safely. In addition to providing guidelines for characterizing PCD deposition, this work may also advance the general understanding of nanoparticle growth and formation.

Size-Dependent Thermal Stability and Optical Properties of Ultra-Small Nanodiamonds Synthesized under High Pressure

Diamond properties down to the quantum-size region are still poorly understood. High-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) synthesis from chloroadamantane molecules allows precise control of nanodiamond size. Thermal stability and optical properties of nanodiamonds with sizes spanning range from <1 to 8 nm are investigated. It is shown that the existing hypothesis about enhanced thermal stability of nanodiamonds smaller than 2 nm is incorrect. The most striking feature in IR absorption of these samples is the appearance of an enhanced transmission band near the diamond Raman mode (1332 cm-1). Following the previously proposed explanation, we attribute this phenomenon to the Fano effect caused by resonance of the diamond Raman mode with continuum of conductive surface states. We assume that these surface states may be formed by reconstruction of broken bonds on the nanodiamond surfaces. This effect is also responsible for the observed asymmetry of Raman scattering peak. The mechanism of nanodiamond formation in HPHT synthesis is proposed, explaining peculiarities of their structure and properties.

Laser-Induced Modification of Hydrogenated Detonation Nanodiamonds in Ethanol

Apart from the frequently used high-temperature annealing of detonation nanodiamonds (DNDs) in an inert environment, laser irradiation of DNDs in a liquid can be effectively used for onion-like carbon (OLC) formation. Here, we used fully de-aggregated hydrogenated DNDs (H-DNDs) dispersed in ethanol, which were irradiated for up to 60 min using a 532 nm NdYAG laser with an energy of 150 mJ in a pulse (5 J/cm²) at a pulse duration of 10 ns and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. We investigated the DND surface chemistry, zeta potential, and structure as a function of laser irradiation time. Infrared spectroscopy revealed a monotonical decrease in the C-H_x band intensities and an increase of the C-O and C=O features. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the formation of OLC, as well as a gradual loss of nanoparticle character, with increasing irradiation time. Surprisingly, for samples irradiated up to 40 min, the typical and unchanged DND Raman spectrum was recovered after their annealing in air at 450 °C for 300 min. This finding indicates the inhomogeneous sp³ to sp² carbon transformation during laser irradiation, as well as the insensitivity of DND Raman spectra to surface chemistry, size, and transient structural changes.

Ultrathin Diamond Nanofilms-Development, Challenges, and Applications

Diamond is a highly attractive material for ample applications in material science, engineering, chemistry, and biology because of its favorable properties. The advent of conductive diamond coatings and the steady demand for miniaturization in a plethora of economic and scientific fields resulted in the impetus for interdisciplinary research to develop intricate deposition techniques for thin (≤1000 nm) and ultra-thin (≤100 nm) diamond films on non-diamond substrates. By virtue of the lowered thickness, diamond coatings feature high optical transparency in UV-IR range. Combined with their semi-conductivity and mechanical robustness, they are promising candidates for solar cells, optical devices, transparent electrodes, and photochemical applications. In this review, the difficulty of (ultra-thin) diamond film development and production, introduction of important stepping stones for thin diamond synthesis, and summarization of the main nucleation procedures for diamond film synthesis are elucidated. Thereafter, applications of thin diamond coatings are highlighted with a focus on applications relying on ultrathin diamond coatings, and the excellent properties of the diamond exploited in said applications are discussed, thus guiding the reader and enabling the reader to quickly get acquainted with the research field of ultrathin diamond coatings.

Nucleation of diamond films on heterogeneous substrates: a review

Diamond thin films are known to have properties similar to bulk diamond and have applications in both industry and fundamental studies in academia. The high surface energy of diamond makes it extremely difficult to grow diamond films on foreign substrates. Hence, to grow diamond films on non-diamond substrates, a nucleation step is needed. In this review various techniques used for diamond nucleation/seeding will be discussed. At present electrostatic seeding by diamond nanoparticles is the most commonly used seeding technique for nanocrystalline growth. In this technique the substrate is dipped in a nanodiamond solution to form a mono layer of diamond seeds. These seeds when exposed to appropriate conditions grow to form diamond layers. This technique is suitable for most substrates. For heteroepitaxial growth, bias enhanced nucleation is the primary technique. In this technique the substrate is biased to form diamond nuclei in the initial stages of growth. This technique can be used for any conducting flat surface. For growth on ceramics, polishing by diamond grit or electrostatic seeding can be used. Polishing the ceramics with diamond powder leaves small diamond particles embedded in the substrate. These small particles then act as seeds for subsequent diamond growth. Apart from these techniques, chemical nucleation, interlayer driven nucleation and mixed techniques have been discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of individual techniques have also been discussed.

Growth of diamond film on heterogeneous substrates assisted by nucleation/seeding.

Nanodiamond surface chemistry controls assembly of polypyrrole and generation of photovoltage

Nanoscale composite of detonation nanodiamond (DND) and polypyrrole (PPy) as a representative of organic light-harvesting polymers is explored for energy generation, using nanodiamond as an inorganic electron acceptor. We present a technology for the composite layer-by-layer synthesis that is suitable for solar cell fabrication. The formation, pronounced material interaction, and photovoltaic properties of DND-PPy composites are characterized down to nanoscale by atomic force microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Kelvin probe, and electronic transport measurements. The data show that DNDs with different surface terminations (hydrogenated, oxidized, poly-functional) assemble PPy oligomers in different ways. This leads to composites with different optoelectronic properties. Tight material interaction results in significantly enhanced photovoltage and broadband (1–3.5 eV) optical absorption in DND/PPy composites compared to pristine materials. Combination of both oxygen and hydrogen functional groups on the nanodiamond surface appears to be the most favorable for the optoelectronic effects. Theoretical DFT calculations corroborate the experimental data. Test solar cells demonstrate the functionality of the concept.

DFT calculations reveal pronounced HOMO-LUMO spatial separation in polypyrrole-nanodiamond systems

The low-cost efficient generation of renewable energy and its blending with societal lifestyle is becoming increasingly pervasive. Diamond-based inorganic-organic hybrid systems may have an immense, yet still mostly unexplored, potential in photovoltaic solar cells applications. In this work, we study the interactions of polypyrrole (PPy) with diamond nanoparticles (so-called nanodiamonds, NDs) by computational density functional theory (DFT) methods. We compute the structural and electronic properties of such hybrid organic-inorganic systems. During modeling, PPy is chemisorbed and physisorbed on (111) and (100) ND edge-like surface slabs terminated with oxygen, hydroxyl, carboxyl, and anhydride functional groups, i.e., in the arrangements most commonly found in real NDs. Moreover, NDs terminated with an amorphous surface layer (a-C:H, a-C:O) are considered to approach realistic conditions even further. In a predominant number of cases, we obtain the spatial separation of HOMO and LUMO at the interface, facilitating exciton dissociation. Further, there is a favorable energy level alignment for charge transport. The theoretical results, therefore, show the promising potential of PPy-ND composites in photovoltaic applications.

Immobilization of Detonation Nanodiamonds on Macroscopic Surfaces

Detonation nanodiamonds (NDs) are a novel class of carbon-based nanomaterials, and have received a great deal of attention in biomedical applications, due to their high biocompatibility, facile surface functionalization, and commercialized synthetic fabrication. We were able to transfer the NDs from large-size agglomerate suspensions to homogenous coatings. ND suspensions have been used in various techniques to coat on commercially available substrates of pure Ti and Si. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and nanoindentation show that the densest and strongest coating of NDs was generated when using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS)-mediated coupling to macroscopic silanized surfaces. In the next step, the feasibility of DNA-mediated coupling of NDs on macroscopic surfaces is discussed using fluorescent microscopy and additional particle size distribution, as well as zeta potential measurements. This work compares different ND coating strategies and describes the straightforward technique of grafting single-stranded DNA onto carboxylated NDs via thioester bridges.

Microstructural Effect on the Enhancement of Field Electron Emission Properties of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films by Li-Ion Implantation and Annealing Processes

The impact of lithium-ion implantation and postannealing processes on improving the electrical conductivity and field electron emission (FEE) characteristics of nitrogen-doped nanocrystalline diamond (nNCD) films was observed to be distinctly different from those of undoped NCD (uNCD) films. A high-dose Li-ion implantation induced the formation of electron trap centers inside the diamond grains and amorphous carbon (a-C) phases in grain boundaries for both types of NCD films. Postannealing at 1000 °C healed the defects, eliminated the electron trap centers, and converted the a-C into nanographitic phases. The abundant nanographitic phases in the grain boundaries of the nNCD films as compared to the uNCD films made an interconnected path for effectual electron transport and consequently enhanced the FEE characteristics of nNCD films.

Silicon-Vacancy Centers in Ultra-Thin Nanocrystalline Diamond Films

Color centers in diamond have shown excellent potential for applications in quantum information processing, photonics, and biology. Here we report the optoelectronic investigation of shallow silicon vacancy (SiV) color centers in ultra-thin (7⁻40 nm) nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films with variable surface chemistry. We show that hydrogenated ultra-thin NCD films exhibit no or lowered SiV photoluminescence (PL) and relatively high negative surface photovoltage (SPV) which is ascribed to non-radiative electron transitions from SiV to surface-related traps. Higher SiV PL and low positive SPV of oxidized ultra-thin NCD films indicate an efficient excitation-emission PL process without significant electron escape, yet with some hole trapping in diamond surface states. Decreasing SPV magnitude and increasing SiV PL intensity with thickness, in both cases, is attributed to resonant energy transfer between shallow and bulk SiV. We also demonstrate that thermal treatments (annealing in air or in hydrogen gas), commonly applied to modify the surface chemistry of nanodiamonds, are also applicable to ultra-thin NCD films in terms of tuning their SiV PL and surface chemistry.

Hydroxylation and self-assembly of colloidal hydrogenated nanodiamonds by aqueous oxygen radicals from atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Plasma chemical surface modification of nanoparticles in gas–liquid type reactors enables a controllable, specific, low-cost, and environmentally friendly alternative to wet chemistry methods or thermal and dry plasma treatments. Here the atmospheric pressure radio-frequency microplasma jet (µ-APPJ) operating with 0.6% O₂ in He is used to deliver aqueous oxygen radicals (AOR) to the surface of ∼3 nm hydrogenated detonation nanodiamonds (H-DNDs) suspended in water. The AOR-treated H-DND samples are characterized by FTIR and XPS spectroscopies and by AFM and SEM imaging. The main chemical reaction mechanism is identified as the abstraction of surface hydrogen atoms by O or OH radicals and a consequent attachment of the OH group, thereby increasing concentration of alcohols, carboxyls, and aldehydes on the DND's surface. FTIR spectra reveal also a structural re-arrangement of the surface water on the AOR-treated H-DNDs. Yet zeta-potential of AOR-treated H-DNDs still remains positive (decreases from +45 mV to +30 mV). The chemical modification gives rise to formation of nanoscale chain-like aggregates when AOR-treated H-DNDs are deposited on Si substrate.

Colloidal nanodiamonds are hydroxylated by action of plasma-supplied O atoms and undergo self-assembly to chains.