Disordered Carbon Shells Enable Shape Dependent Fluorescence Enhancement in Nanodiamond Quantum Sensors Revealed by Correlative TEM–Fluorescence Microscopy
Parkarsh Kumar·Shery L. Y. Chang·Mehran Kianinia·Haotian Wen·Adam Stewart·Peter J. Reece·Hugues A. Girard·Jean‐Charles Arnault·Huan‐Cheng Chang·Igor Aharonovich·Tom Vaillant
ABSTRACT Fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) containing nitrogen–vacancy (NV) centers are powerful quantum sensors capable of nanoscale optical and spin‐based detection of temperature and electric or magnetic fields. Improving their fluorescence brightness is critical for enhancing sensitivity, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we show that treatment with strongly oxidizing molten produces an ultrathin (2 nm) disordered‐carbon shell on FND that significantly enhances NV e