Ag-Diamond Core-Shell Nanostructures Incorporated with Silicon-Vacancy Centers

Silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers in diamond have attracted attention as highly stable fluorophores for sensing and as possible candidates for quantum information science. While prior studies have shown that the formation of hybrid diamond-metal structures can increase the rates of optical absorption and emission, many practical applications require diamond plasmonic structures that are stable in harsh chemical and thermal environments. Here, we demonstrate that Ag nanospheres, produced both in quasi-random arrays by thermal dewetting and in ordered arrays using electron-beam lithography, can be completely encapsulated with a thin diamond coating containing SiV centers, leading to hybrid core-shell nanostructures exhibiting extraordinary chemical and thermal stability as well as enhanced optical properties. Diamond shells with a thickness on the order of 20-100 nm are sufficient to encapsulate and protect the Ag nanostructures with different sizes ranging from 20 nm to hundreds of nanometers, allowing them to withstand heating to temperatures of 1000 °C and immersion in harsh boiling acid for 24 h. Ultrafast photoluminescence lifetime and super-resolution optical imaging experiments were used to study the SiV properties on and off the core-shell structures, which show that the SiV on core-shell structures have higher brightness and faster decay rate. The stability and optical properties of the hybrid Ag-diamond core-shell structures make them attractive candidates for high-efficiency imaging and quantum-based sensing applications.