Long Spin Coherence and Relaxation Times in Nanodiamonds Milled from Polycrystalline ${}^{12}$C Diamond

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centre (NV${}^{-}$) in diamond has been utilized in a wide variety of sensing applications. The centre’s long spin coherence and relaxation times ($T_2^{\ast }$, $T_2$ and $T_1$) at room temperature are crucial to this, as they often limit sensitivity. Using NV${}^{-}$ centres in nanodiamonds allows for operations in environments inaccessible to bulk diamond, such as intracellular sensing. We report long spin coherence and relaxation times at room temperature for single NV${}^{-}$ centres in isotopically-purified polycrystalline ball-milled nanodiamonds. Using a spin-locking pulse sequence, we observe spin coherence times, $T_2$, up 786 $\pm$ 200 $\mu$s. We also measure $T_2^{\ast }$ times up to 2.06 $\pm$ 0.24 $\mu$s and $T_1$ times up to 4.32 $\pm$ 0.60 ms. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements show that the diamond containing the NV${}^{-}$ centre with the longest $T_1$ time is smaller than 100 nm. EPR measurements give an N${}_s$${}^0$ concentration of 0.15 $\pm$ 0.02 ppm for the nanodiamond sample.