Straightforward synthesis of silicon vacancy (SiV) center-containing single-digit nanometer nanodiamonds via detonation process

Silicon vacancy (SiV) color centers in diamond have attracted widespread attention owing to their stable photoluminescence (PL) with a sharp emission band in the near-infrared region (ZPL 738 nm). Especially, SiV center containing single-digit nanometer-sized nanodiamonds (single-digit SiV-NDs) are desirable for various applications such as bioimaging and biosensing because of their extremely small size, comparable to many biomaterials. Therefore, several attempts have been made to fabricate the single-digit SiV-NDs. However, there are no reports on the successful fabrication of such materials in reasonable scale of production. Here, we report the successful synthesis of single-digit SiV-NDs via straightforward detonation process, which is known to have the high productivity in fabrication of single-digit NDs. Triphenylsilanol (TPS), as a silicon source, was mixed with explosives (TPS/TNT/RDX = 1/59/40 wt%) and the detonation process was carried out. The obtained single-digit NDs exhibit PL at approximately 738 nm, indicating that single-digit SiV-NDs were successfully synthesized. Moreover, we conjectured that the physics behind this achievement may be attributed to the aromatic ring of TPS under the consideration of ND formation mechanism newly built up based on the results of time-resolved optical emission measurements for the detonation reaction. [Display omitted] •SiV centers in diamond are provided for various bioapplications.•SiV center-containing single-digit nanometer NDs were synthesized directly by detonation process.•Detonation with triphenylsilanol as a silicon source allowed to incorporate SiV centers into DNDs.•SiV centers in DNDs showed sharp PL emission peak centered at the ZPL = 738 nm.•Optical measurement of the detonation reaction revealed the physics behind the creation of SiV centers.