Observation of nitrogen vacancy photoluminescence from an optically levitated nanodiamond

Abstract: We present the first evidence of nitrogen vacancy (NV) photoluminescence from a nanodiamond suspended in a free-space optical dipole trap at atmospheric pressure. The photoluminescence rates are shown to decrease with increasing trap laser power, but are inconsistent with a thermal quenching process. For a continuous-wave trap, the neutral charge state (NV$^0$) appears to be suppressed. Chopping the trap laser yields higher total count rates and results in a mixture of both NV$^0$ and the negative charge state (NV$^-$).