An international team of scientists from three continents led by Dr. Petr Cígler of IOCB Prague has developed a method for creating light-emitting quantum centers in nanodiamonds in only a matter of minutes. In just one week, the process can yield as much material as conventional methods would produce in more than forty years.

Moreover, the resulting nanodiamonds show improved optical and quantum properties. The breakthrough brings us one step closer to the industrial production of higher-quality and more affordable quantum nanodiamonds, which have broad applications in research and technology. The article is published in Advanced Functional Materials.

The research team has introduced a new procedure called Pressure and Temperature Qubits (PTQ), which takes only four minutes. Diamond powder is placed in a press that generates extremely high pressure and temperature, reproducing the conditions found deep within Earth’s mantle. Under these conditions, quantum centers are formed inside the nanodiamonds.