Brilliant blue, green, yellow, and red fluorescent diamond particles: synthesis, characterization, and multiplex imaging demonstrations

Until recently, the number of emission colors available from fluorescent diamond particles was primarily limited to red to near-infrared fluorescence from the nitrogen-vacancy color center in type Ib synthetic diamond and green fluorescence associated with the nitrogen-vacancy-nitrogen center in type Ia natural diamond. Using our recently reported rapid thermal annealing technique, we demonstrate the capability of producing fluorescent diamond particles that exhibit distinctive blue, green, yellow, and red fluorescence from the same synthetic diamond starting material. Utilizing these multiple colored diamonds, we analyze their fluorescence characteristics both in-solution as well as on-substrate and additionally evaluate their viability in simple multiplex imaging and cellular bioimaging experiments. While there are still challenges associated with their immediate use in traditional multiplex imaging, this novel approach opens new opportunities to enhance the capability and flexibility of fluorescent diamond particles at the nanoscale.