Sub-20-nm Fluorescent Nanodiamonds as Photostable Biolabels and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Donors

摘要

A current trend in fluorescent probe technology is to expand the role of fluorophores that emit light in the far red and near infrared region for biomedical use. The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy defect center, (N-V)~-, in type Ib diamond is one of such fluorophores and has drawn much attention in recent years.'2' The center exhibits several distinct features such as extended red emission at ～700nm, near-unity fluorescence quantum yield, and ultrahigh photostability (neither photobleaching nor photo-blinking).'3"5' These characteristics, along with the diverse surface functionalizability and non-toxic nature of the material, have made fluorescent nanodiamond (FND) a promising candidate among other conventional markers and labels, for example, organic dyes, fluorescent proteins, and quantum dots, for bioimaging applications.