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This study investigates the limitations imposed by material properties on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers embedded in nanodiamonds, which are critical for enhancing quantum sensing capabilities in complex environments. The authors identify that reduced dimensions lead to increased lattice strain and surface noise, significantly affecting NV spin relaxation times and charge stability, thereby complicating the interpretation of multimodal sensing signals. Key mitigation strategies are proposed to improve the robustness of these mobile quantum sensors for applications in biosensing and nanoscale science.
NV centers in nanodiamonds face severe performance limitations due to nanoscale material constraints, impacting their effectiveness as quantum sensors in real-world applications.
Optically addressable solid-state spin defects have emerged as powerful multimodal quantum sensors, with nitrogen–vacancy (NV) centers in bulk diamond providing benchmark quantum control and sensitivity under ambient conditions. Embedding such defects in nanodiamonds (NDs) extends these capabilities to mobile probes capable of accessing complex biological and nanoscale environments. Reduced dimensions, however, introduce constraints beyond volumetric spin impurities, notably enhanced lattice strain and surface-induced noise sources, which shorten NV spin relaxation times (T 1 and T 2) and destabilize the NV charge state, as well as resulting in pronounced particle-to-particle variability in NDs typically produced by top-down approaches. These effects complicate both sensing performance and the quantitative interpretation of multimodal signals in realistic environments. This article provides a structured perspective on the physical mechanisms by which material properties constrain NV behavior in NDs, together with mitigation strategies that shape the robust use of these mobile quantum sensors for biosensing and nanoscale science.