Diamond and phosphor nanoparticles can probe biological processes on the nanoscale, sometimes with the potential for quantum-enhanced sensing. However, there are issues that must be addressed to enable widespread application.
For example, in the case of magnetic sensing it is desirable to have as many nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color center as possible. Yet leftover nitrogen atoms are a source of spin noise that rapidly degrades magnetic sensitivity.
In the case of phosphor nanoparticles, the ubiquitous biofluorescence background can be suppressed by upconversion in rare earth doped crystals, even for excitation laser intensities comparable to single-photon transitions. However these optical transitions have a relatively low quantum efficiency per ion.
In this talk I will discuss new approaches toward solving these problems by combining both technologies, for example, heterogeneous core-shell structures involving both diamond and phosphor nanoparticles.
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