All-Optical Electric Field Sensing with Nanodiamond-Doped Polymer Thin Films

Abstract

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center is a photoluminescent defect in diamond that exists in different charge states, NV- and NV0, that are sensitive to the NV's nanoscale environment. Here, all-optical voltage sensing with NV centers in fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) is demonstrated in a solid-state device based on electric field-induced NV charge state modulation. More than 95% of FNDs integrated into a polymer-based capacitor device show a transient increase in NV− PL intensity up to 31% within 0.1 ms after application of an external voltage, accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in NV0 PL. The NV− PL signal increases with increasing electric field from 0 to 619 kV cm−1. The best electric fi..