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Efficiency of Cathodoluminescence Emission by Nitrogen‐Vacancy Color Centers in Nanodiamonds
Author(s) -
Zhang Huiliang,
Glenn David R.,
Schalek Richard,
Lichtman Jeff W.,
Walsworth Ronald L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201700543
Subject(s) - cathodoluminescence , materials science , vacancy defect , nanoparticle , electron , particle (ecology) , emission intensity , nanoscopic scale , optoelectronics , atomic physics , analytical chemistry (journal) , luminescence , nanotechnology , chemistry , physics , nuclear physics , crystallography , oceanography , chromatography , geology
Correlated electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging using functionalized nanoparticles is a promising nanoscale probe of biological structure and function. Nanodiamonds (NDs) that contain CL‐emitting color centers are particularly well suited for such applications. The intensity of CL emission from NDs is determined by a combination of factors, including particle size, density of color centers, efficiency of energy deposition by electrons passing through the particle, and conversion efficiency from deposited energy to CL emission. This paper reports experiments and numerical simulations that investigate the relative importance of each of these factors in determining CL emission intensity from NDs containing nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) color centers. In particular, it is found that CL can be detected from NV‐doped NDs with dimensions as small as ≈40 nm, although CL emission decreases significantly for smaller NDs.