Size dependence of ¹³C nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in micro- and nanodiamonds

Size dependence of physical properties of nanodiamond particles is of crucial importance for various applications in which defect density and location as well as relaxation processes play a significant role. In this work, the impact of defects induced by milling of micron-sized synthetic diamonds was studied by magnetic resonance techniques as a function of the particle size. EPR and ¹³C NMR studies of highly purified commercial synthetic micro- and nanodiamonds were done for various fractions separated by sizes. Noticeable acceleration of ¹³C nuclear spin-lattice relaxation with decreasing particle size was found. We showed that this effect is caused by the contribution to relaxation coming from the surface paramagnetic centers induced by sample milling. The developed theory of the spin-lattice relaxation for such a case shows good compliance with the experiment.