Publication Date

7-17-2024

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

Volume

16

Issue

28

DOI

10.1021/acsami.4c06298

First Page

37226

Last Page

37233

Abstract

Thanks to its low or negative surface electron affinity and chemical inertness, diamond is attracting broad attention as a source material of solvated electrons produced by optical excitation of the solid-liquid interface. Unfortunately, its wide bandgap typically imposes the use of wavelengths in the ultraviolet range, hence complicating practical applications. Here, we probe the photocurrent response of water surrounded by single-crystal diamond surfaces engineered to host shallow nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. We observe clear signatures of diamond-induced photocurrent generation throughout the visible range and for wavelengths reaching up to 594 nm. Experiments as a function of laser power suggest that NV centers and other coexisting defects─likely in the form of surface traps─contribute to carrier injection, though we find that NVs dominate the system response in the limit of high illumination intensities. Given our growing understanding of near-surface NV centers and adjacent point defects, these results open new perspectives in the application of diamond-liquid interfaces to photocarrier-initiated chemical and spin processes in fluids.

Funding Number

NSF-2223461

Funding Sponsor

Simons Foundation

Keywords

diamond, NV centers, photocurrent, shallow traps, solvated carriers

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Chemistry

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