Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond for High-Performance Detection of Vacuum Ultraviolet, Extreme Ultraviolet, and X‑rays
Hsiao-Chi Lu,1,* Jen-Iu Lo,1 Yu-Chain Peng,1 Sheng-Lung Chou,1 Bing-Ming Cheng,1,* and Huan-Cheng Chang2,*
1National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, 101 Hsin-Ann Road, Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
2Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, 1 Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12, 3847−3853 (2020).
Fluorescent nanodiamond (FND) containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers as built-in fluorophores exhibits a nearly constant emission profile over 550 – 750 nm upon excitation by vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV), extreme ultraviolet (EUV), and X- radiations from a synchrotron source over the energy (wavelength) range of 6.2 – 1450 eV (0.86 – 200 nm). The photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield of FND increases steadily with the increasing excitation energy, attaining a value as great as 1700% at 700 eV (1.77 nm). Notably, the yield curve is continuous, having no gap in the VUV to X-ray region. In addition, no significant PL intensity decreases were observed for hours. Applying the FND sensor to measure the absorption cross sections of gaseous O2 over 110 – 200 nm and comparing the measurements with the sodium-salicylate scintillator, we obtained results in agreement with each other within 5%. The superb photostability and broad applicability of FND offer a promising solution for the long-standing problem of lacking a robust and reliable detector for VUV, EUV, and X- radiations.