Title: Nanoscale mapping of the three-dimensional deformation field within commercial nanodiamonds

Authors: Muhammad Salman Maqbool; David Hoxley; Nicholas W. Phillips; Hannah D. Coughlan; Connie Darmanin; Brett C. Johnson; Ross Harder; Jesse N. Clark; Eugeniu Balaur; Brian Abbey

Addresses: ARC Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia ' Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia ' ARC Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia ' ARC Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia ' ARC Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia ' ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computing and Communication Technology, School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia ' Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, 60439, USA ' Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, California, 94205, USA; Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron, Hamburg, 22607, Germany ' ARC Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia ' ARC Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Victoria, 3086, Australia; Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, Victorian Node of Australian National Fabrication Facility, Victoria, 3168, Australia

Abstract: The unique properties of nanodiamonds make them suitable for use in a wide range of applications, including as biomarkers for cellular tracking in vivo at the molecular level. The sustained fluorescence of nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) centres is related to their internal structure and strain state. Theoretical studies predict that the location of the N-V centre and the nanodiamonds' residual elastic strain state have a major influence on their photoluminescence properties. However, to date there have been no direct measurements made of their spatially resolved deformation fields owing to the challenges that such measurements present. Here we apply the recently developed technique of Bragg coherent diffractive imaging (BCDI) to map the three-dimensional deformation field within a single nanodiamond of approximately 0.5 µm diameter. The results indicate that there are high levels of residual elastic strain present in the nanodiamond which could have a critical influence on its optical and electronic properties.

Keywords: nanodiamonds; fluorescence; cellular tracking; 3D strain mapping; Bragg coherent diffractive imaging; BCDI; biomarkers; nanotechnology; nanoscale mapping; 3D deformation; residual elastic strain; photoluminescence; optical properties; electronic properties.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2017.082471

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2017 Vol.14 No.1/2/3/4/5/6, pp.251 - 264

Published online: 24 Feb 2017 *

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