Diamonds can have many beautiful colors. These colors are usually caused by atomic defects in the crystal lattice, often referred to as color centers. Not only do they create vibrant colors, many of them are also fluorescent and have unique optical properties that make them relevant for many emerging applications from quantum computing to imaging and sensing in biology. We are interested in understanding and engineering these color centers in diamond and tailor them for specific applications. 

Selected recent publications

• A Telecom O-Band Emitter in Diamond

• Proximal nitrogen reduces the fluorescence quantum yield of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond

• Near-Infrared Fluorescence from Silicon- and Nickel-Based Color Centers in High-Pressure High-Temperature Diamond Micro- and Nanoparticles
  

Nanomaterials are more than 10 000 times smaller than the diameter of a hair. They are becoming increasingly important in products from television screens to point-of-care biomedical diagnostics. We are interested in understanding and engineering the physical and chemical properties of several materials including nanodiamonds and other wide-bandgap semiconductor materials, metallic nanoparticles and organic fluorophores. We specialize in the optical characterization of these materials as well as using them in applications from bioimaging to solar energy conversion.

Selected recent publications

• Ultrasmall Nanodiamonds: Perspectives and Questions

• Fluorescent HPHT nanodiamonds have disk- and rod-like shapes

• The effect of salt and particle concentration on the dynamic self-assembly of detonation nanodiamonds in water

Light is a powerful tool that allows us to image biological systems at the scale of individual cells and observe physical and biochemical processes in real-time. We are interested in using new and emerging nanomaterials to image and sense at the nanoscale. A particular focus is to exploit the unique properties of color centers in nanodiamonds to advance neuroscience: to observe and understand intracellular transport processes in neurons and microglia and monitor neuronal signals in real-time in live neurons.

Selected recent publications

• Targeting cell surface glycans with lectin-coated fluorescent nanodiamonds

• Multimodal Imaging and Soft X-Ray Tomography of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds in Cancer Cells

• Multi-coloured fluorescent sensing toolbox for selective detection of Nitroxyl in vitro and ex vivo

Traditional sensors rely on classical physics principles and measurements, which have inherent limitations in terms of sensitivity and accuracy. Quantum sensors harness the behavior of quantum particles, such as atoms and photons to enable highly precise measurements of temperature and electric and magnetic fields at the nanoscale.

Selected publications

• Acoustomicrofluidic Concentration and Signal Enhancement of Fluorescent Nanodiamond Sensors

• Detection of Paramagnetic Spins with an Ultrathin van der Waals Quantum Sensor