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Physical Review Applied

Hybrid diamond quantum sensor with submicrokelvin resolution under ambient conditions

Musang Gong, Jiahe Xu, Min Yu, Liyin Zhang, Qipeng Li, Ning Wang, Jianming Cai

Published Feb 27, 2024• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Nitrogen-vacancy ($\mathrm{N}$-V) centers in diamond are promising quantum sensors due to their ultralong coherence time under ambient conditions and multimodal sensing capability. $\mathrm{N}$-V centers are strongly coupled to magnetic fields, leading to unprecedented sensitivity in magnetic field sensing. However, the coupling strengths between $\mathrm{N}$-V centers and other crucial parameters, such as temperature and pressure, are not as strong as that of the magnetic field, resulting in a relative low sensitivity. A previous study showed that the temperature sensitivity of a diamond quantum sensor could be largely improved by magnetic criticality enhancement. Here, we propose and demonstrate a hybrid quantum thermometer composed of bulk diamond with ensemble $\mathrm{N}$-V centers and a gadolinium magnetic flux concentrator. In addition to the magnetic criticality enhancement of gadolinium, our scheme leverages the magnetic flux concentration and ensemble $\mathrm{N}$-V centers, achieving a temperature sensitivity of about $\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}251.5\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\text{nK}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$. Near the critical point, the spin resonance to temperature $(\mathrm{\ensuremath{\partial}}{f}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}/\mathrm{\ensuremath{\partial}}T)$ reached $57.3\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\text{MHz}/\text{K}$ under an external magnetic field of 1.213 G, which is about 774 times enhanced compared with that of bare $\mathrm{N}$-V centers. The submicrokelvin temperature resolution of our hybrid thermometer can be used in the calibration of a reference point of temperature, integrated marine environmental surveys, laser-frequency stabilization, aerospace high-stability temperature-control systems, and many other practical applications on a macroscopic scale.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.21.024053

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Nitrogen-vacancy (N\mathrm{N}N-V) centers in diamond are promising quantum sensors due to their ultralong coherence time under ambient conditions and multimodal sensing capability. N\mathrm{N}N-V centers are strongly coupled to magnetic fields, leading to unprecedented sensitivity in magnetic field sensing. However, the coupling strengths between N\mathrm{N}N-V centers and other crucial parameters, such as temperature and pressure, are not as strong as that of the magnetic field, resulting in a relative low sensitivity. A previous study showed that the temperature sensitivity of a diamond quantum sensor could be largely improved by magnetic criticality enhancement. Here, we propose and demonstrate a hybrid quantum thermometer composed of bulk diamond with ensemble N\mathrm{N}N-V centers and a gadolinium magnetic flux concentrator. In addition to the magnetic criticality enhancement of gadolinium, our scheme leverages the magnetic flux concentration and ensemble N\mathrm{N}N-V centers, achieving a temperature sensitivity of about 251.5nK/Hz\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}251.5\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\text{nK}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}251.5nK/Hz​. Near the critical point, the spin resonance to temperature (\ensuremath∂f\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi/\ensuremath∂T)(\mathrm{\ensuremath{\partial}}{f}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}/\mathrm{\ensuremath{\partial}}T)(\ensuremath∂f\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi​/\ensuremath∂T) reached 57.3MHz/K57.3\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\text{MHz}/\text{K}57.3MHz/K under an external magnetic field of 1.213 G, which is about 774 times enhanced compared with that of bare N\mathrm{N}N-V centers. The submicrokelvin temperature resolution of our hybrid thermometer can be used in the calibration of a reference point of temperature, integrated marine environmental surveys, laser-frequency stabilization, aerospace high-stability temperature-control systems, and many other practical applications on a macroscopic scale.
Quantum sensing is a quantum technology for ultrasensitive detection, which is particularly useful for sensing weak signals at the nanoscale. Nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond, thanks to their superb quantum coherence under ambient conditions and the stability of the material in extreme and complicated environments, have been demonstrated as promising quantum probes in multi-parameter sensing. Their spin properties make them particularly sensitive to magnetic fields, but they are insensitive to temperature, electric field, pressure, etc., and even immune to some bio-parameters (e.g., pH and glucose concentration). Recently, hybrid quantum sensing has emerged as a promising avenue for further enhancing the capabilities of diamond sensors. Different techniques can potentially improve the sensitivity, range of detectable parameters, and sensing frequencies of diamond sensors. This review provides an overview of hybrid quantum sensing using diamond. We first give a brief introduction to quantum sensing using diamond, and then review various hybrid sensing schemes that have been developed to enhance the sensing capabilities of diamond sensors. Finally, the potential applications and challenges associated with hybrid quantum sensing in diamond are discussed.
Recent advances in chip scale magnetic quantum sensing have produced platforms that pair unprecedented sensitivity with extreme miniaturization. Here, we demonstrate a hybrid quantum sensor by combining Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers in diamond with a rubidium (Rb) vapor cell, designed for precise magnetic field measurements and quantum exploration. The hybrid comagnetometer leverages the high resolution vector magnetic sensing of NV centers along with the high scalar field sensitivity of the Rb vapor, enhancing the estimation of the magnetic field in terms of magnitude, direction and spatial distribution. A micromachined mm scale vapor cell containing Rb atoms is paired with a bulk diamond, enabling optical and microwave control of both quantum systems for integrated field estimation. Simulations and experimental results confirm the improved accuracy of the system in magnetic field measurements, demonstrating a beyond 10 dB improvement. This NV and Rb platform offers a versatile route toward portable, sensitive magnetometry and opens new possibilities for integrated, multi-modal quantum sensing.
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.
Extreme conditions, such as ultra-low temperatures, high pressures, and strong magnetic fields, are critical to producing and studying exotic states of matter. To measure physical properties under extreme conditions, the advanced sensing schemes are required. As a promising quantum sensor, the diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center can detect magnetic field, electronic field, pressure, and temperature with high sensitivity. Considering its nanoscale spatial resolution and ultra-wide working range, the diamond quantum sensing can play an important role in frontier studies involving extreme conditions. This paper reviews the spin and optical properties of diamond NV center under extreme conditions, including low temperature, high temperature, zero field, strong magnetic fields, and high pressures. The opportunities and challenges of diamond quantum sensing under extreme conditions are discussed. The basic knowledge of spin-based quantum sensing and its applications under extreme conditions are also covered.
The diamond anvil cell-based high-pressure technique is a unique tool for creating new states of matter and for understanding the physics underlying some exotic phenomena. In situ sensing of spin and charge properties under high pressure is crucially important but remains technically challenging. While the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a promising quantum sensor under extreme conditions, its spin dynamics and the quantum control of its spin states under high pressure remain elusive. In this study, we demonstrate coherent control, spin relaxation, and spin dephasing measurements for ensemble NV centers up to 32.8 GPa. With this in situ quantum sensor, we investigate the pressure-induced magnetic phase transition of a micron-size permanent magnet Nd 2 Fe 14B sample in a diamond anvil cell, with a spatial resolution of ∼2 μm, and sensitivity of ∼20 μT/Hz 1/2. This scheme could be generalized to measure other parameters such as temperature, pressure and their gradients under extreme conditions. This will be beneficial for frontier research of condensed matter physics and geophysics.
Diamond quantum sensors utilizing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond can measure a tiny magnetic-field variation at room temperature with a high linearity and high spatial resolution. Because of these advantages, they have been actively studied for application to measure a biomagnetic field. In biomagnetic sensing applications, it is effective to measure at multiple points simultaneously with high sensitivity. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive diamond quantum sensor that can simultaneously measure the magnetic field at two points at the millimeter interval. We used two diamonds that were split from one HPHT-grown diamond and placed them at the 3-mm interval. A laser-induced fluorescence from the two diamonds were detected by a single photodiode. We applied different bias magnetic fields to each diamond, and thus the magnetic resonances at these diamonds had different resonance frequencies. By applying microwave fields whose frequencies were modulated at different modulation frequencies, the magnetic fields at the two diamonds can be obtained independently after demodulation. The noise spectral densities in the magnetic field measurement at the two diamonds’ locations. Since the measurement was performed outside a magnetic shield, a severe low-frequency environmental noise from railways and power line (50 Hz) noise peaks were observed. We evaluated the field sensitivities at the two diamonds to be 22 pT/√Hz in 25-300 Hz range with neglecting the power-line noise peaks and the environment noise peaks. The capability of simultaneously measuring a magnetic field at two points with the such high sensitivities will facilitate the biomagnetic sensing applications.