Photoluminescence and raman spectroscopy of single diamond nanoparticle

The paper reports the techniques that we have devised for immobilizing and allocating a single nanodiamond on the electron beam (e-beam) patterned smart substrate. The properly designed coordination markers on the semiconductor substrate and the high throughput of the confocal microscope provide us with a convenient tool to single out a nanodiamond with a size less than 100 nm and to study its optical properties on a single nanostructure basis. We have observed a broad PL emission centered at about 700 nm from a single nanodiamond which is due to the defects, vacancies in the nano-diamonds or the disordered carbon layer covered on the nanodiamond surface. We also observe red-shift in energy and asymmetrical broadening in linewidth of the sp³ bonding Raman peak when the size of the single nanodiamond is decreased.