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Physical Review Applied

Diamond-Based Magnetic Imaging with Fourier Optical Processing

Mikael P. Backlund, Pauli Kehayias, Ronald Lee Walsworth

Published Nov 3, 2017• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Magnetic sensing and imaging using ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (N-$V$) centers in diamond recently have found application in disciplines as wide-ranging as condensed matter physics, biology, and paleomagnetism. However, distinguishing the signals from the four inequivalent N-$V$ orientations requires an external magnetic field, which can hinder the study of some magnetic samples. The authors present an $a\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l-o\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}p\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}c\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}a\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l$ method to tease apart the signals at arbitrary bias fields, by exploiting the distribution of photoluminescence at the Fourier plane of a microscope. Their technique will help N-$V$-based magnetic sensing reach its full potential.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.8.054003

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Magnetic sensing and imaging using ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (N-VVV) centers in diamond recently have found application in disciplines as wide-ranging as condensed matter physics, biology, and paleomagnetism. However, distinguishing the signals from the four inequivalent N-VVV orientations requires an external magnetic field, which can hinder the study of some magnetic samples. The authors present an a\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l-o\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}p\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}c\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}a\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}l method to tease apart the signals at arbitrary bias fields, by exploiting the distribution of photoluminescence at the Fourier plane of a microscope. Their technique will help N-VVV-based magnetic sensing reach its full potential.
Diamond-based magnetic field sensors have attracted great interest in recent years. In particular, wide-field magnetic imaging using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond has been previously demonstrated in condensed matter, biological, and paleomagnetic applications. Vector magnetic imaging with NV ensembles typically requires an applied field (>10 G) to separate the contributions from four crystallographic orientations, hindering studies of magnetic samples that require measurement in low or independently specified bias fields. Here we decompose the NV ensemble magnetic resonance spectrum without such a bias field by modulating the collected light at the microscope's Fourier plane. In addition to enabling vector magnetic imaging at arbitrarily low fields, our method can be used to extend the dynamic range at a given bias field. As demonstrated here, optically-detected diamond magnetometry stands to benefit from Fourier optical approaches, which have already found widespread utility in other branches of photonics.
With the advent of quantum technology, nitrogen vacancy (N\mathrm{N}N-VVV) centers in diamond turn out to be a frontier that provides an efficient platform for quantum computation, communication, and sensing applications. Due to the coupled spin-charge dynamics of the N\mathrm{N}N-VVV system, knowledge of N\mathrm{N}N-VVV charge-state dynamics can help to formulate efficient spin-control sequences strategically. Here, we report two spectroscopy-based deconvolution methods to create charge-state mapping images of ensembles of N\mathrm{N}N-VVV centers in diamond. First, relying on the fact that an off-axis external magnetic field mixes the electronic spins and selectively modifies the photoluminescence (PL) of N\mathrm{N}N-${V}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, we perform decomposition of the optical spectrum for an ensemble of N\mathrm{N}N-VVV and extract the spectra for N\mathrm{N}N-${V}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and N\mathrm{N}N-V0{V}^{0}V0 states. Next, we introduce an optical-filter-based decomposition protocol and perform PL imaging for N\mathrm{N}N-${V}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and N\mathrm{N}N-V0{V}^{0}V0. Previously obtained spectra for N\mathrm{N}N-${V}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and N\mathrm{N}N-V0{V}^{0}V0 states are used to calculate their transmissivities through a long-pass optical filter. These results help us to determine the spatial distribution of the N\mathrm{N}N-VVV charge states in a diamond sample.
With the advent of quantum technology, nitrogen vacancy (NVNVNV) centers in diamond turn out to be a frontier which provides an efficient platform for quantum computation, communication and sensing applications. Due to the coupled spin-charge dynamics of the NVNVNV system, knowledge about NVNVNV charge state dynamics can help to formulate efficient spin control sequences strategically. Through this paper we report two spectroscopy-based deconvolution methods to create charge state mapping images of ensembles of NVNVNV centers in diamond. First, relying on the fact that an off axis external magnetic field mixes the electronic spins and selectively modifies the photoluminescence (PL) of NV−NV^-NV−, we perform decomposition of the optical spectrum for an ensemble of NVNVNVs and extract the spectra for NV−NV^-NV− and NV0NV^0NV0 states. Next, we introduce an optical filter based decomposition protocol and perform PL imaging for NV−NV^-NV− and NV0NV^0NV0. Earlier obtained spectra for NV−NV^-NV− and NV0NV^0NV0 states are used to calculate their transmissivities through a long pass optical filter. These results help us to determine the spatial distribution of the NVNVNV charge states in a diamond sample.
In modern-day quantum metrology, quantum sensors are widely employed to detect weak magnetic fields or nanoscale signals. Quantum devices, exploiting quantum coherence, are inevitably connected to physical constants and can achieve accuracy, repeatability, and precision approaching fundamental limits. As a result, these sensors have shown utility in a wide range of research domains spanning both science and technology. A rapidly emerging quantum sensing platform employs atomic-scale defects in crystals. In particular, magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond has garnered increasing interest. NV systems possess a combination of remarkable properties, optical addressability, long coherence times, and biocompatibility. Sensors based on NV centers excel in spatial resolution and magnetic sensitivity. These diamond-based sensors promise comparable combination of high spatial resolution and magnetic sensitivity without cryogenic operation. The above properties of NV magnetometers promise increasingly integrated quantum measurement technology, as a result, they have been extensively developed with various protocols and find use in numerous applications spanning materials characterization, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), condensed matter physics, paleomagnetism, neuroscience and living systems biology, and industrial vector magnetometry. In this chapter, NV centers are explored for magnetic sensing in a number of contexts. In general, we introduce novel regimes for magnetic-field probes with NV ensembles. Specifically, NV centers are developed for sensitive magnetometers for applications where microwaves (MWs) are prohibitively invasive and operations need to be carried out under zero ambient magnetic field. The primary goal of our discussion is to improve the utility of these NV center-based magnetometers.
Solid-state spins in diamond are promising building blocks for quantum computing and quantum sensing, both of which require precise nanoscale addressing of individual spins. To explore the resolution limit of this approach, we demonstrate Fourier magnetic imaging of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under state-of-the-art conditions. We constructed a highly compact experimental platform featuring thermal drift compensation under ambient conditions and generated a pulsed magnetic field gradient of up to 13.5 G/μμμm. By implementing the Fourier magnetic imaging protocol, we achieved localization of a single nitrogen-vacancy center with a spatial resolution of 0.28 ±\pm± 0.10 nm and a magnetic field measurement deviation of 9 nT. This technique holds potential for applications such as localizing spins within proteins and cells.
Ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are a leading platform for sensing and imaging magnetic fields at room temperature, in part due to advances in diamond growth. An essential step to improving diamond material involves the characterization of crystal and NV-related properties, such as strain and paramagnetic impurities, which can shift and broaden the NV resonances used for sensing. Full sample characterization through wide-field imaging enables both fast and detailed feedback for growers, along with the estimation of sensing performance before use. We present a quantum diamond microscope tailored for millimeter-scale wide-field mapping of key quantum properties of NV-diamond chips, including NV ensemble photoluminescence intensity, spin-lattice relaxation time (T1), and spin-coherence lifetimes (T2 and T2*). Our design also allows for lattice stress/strain and birefringence magnitude/angle mapping, and their in situ correlation with NV properties.