Fyzikální ústav Akademie věd ČR

Mrs. Vladimíra Petráková, has been awarded the Young Investigator Prize for the Best Oral Presentation in Symposium A, Diamond Electronics and Bioelectronics: From Fundamental to Applications IV, Material Research Society (MRS) Fall 2010 meeting in Boston, U.S.A.

The prize reflects Vladimíra’s work on basic properties of single photon luminescence centers originating at NV defects in nanodiamond particles that can be used as cellular trackers for biomolecular delivery and detection in biology and medicine. Vladimíra was able to demonstrate a charge transfer between the neutral and negatively charged NV states leading to changes in the luminescence spectra and model mathematically the observed properties. This mechanism can be used for driving quantum NV centers by chemical interaction at the surface. Quantum NV centers are interesting not only for biological applications but also for quantum computing and quantum photonics, where diamond is one of the leading materials.

The winning presentation is an extension of Vladimíra’s work, for which she was already awarded the Best Young Investigator prize at the European Diamond Conference in Budapest in 2010.

Vladimíra is working on her PhD in the Materials for Nanosystems and Biointerfaces group (Department Functional Materials) within the Institute of Physics AS CR and the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague. Her work is supervised by Prof. M. Nesládek, Dr. F. Fendrych and Dr. I. Kratochvílová.

Mrs. Vladimíra Petráková accepting the award from Dr. Jim Butler.