Reduction of surface spin-induced electron spin relaxations in nanodiamonds

Nanodiamonds (NDs) hosting nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers are promising for applications of quantum sensing. Long spin relaxation times ($T_1$ and $T_2$) are critical for high sensitivity in quantum applications. It has been shown that fluctuations of magnetic fields due to surface spins strongly influences $T_1$ and $T_2$ in NDs. However, their relaxation mechanisms have yet to be fully understood. In this paper, we investigate the relation between surface spins and $T_1$ and $T_2$ of single-substitutional nitrogen impurity (P1) centers in NDs. The P1 centers located typically in the vicinity of NV centers are a great model system to study the spin relaxation processes of the NV centers. By employing high-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, we verify that air annealing removes surface spins efficiently and significantly reduces their contribution to $T_1$.

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