All-optical nuclear quantum sensing using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

Abstract

Solid state spins have demonstrated significant potential in quantum sensing with applications including fundamental science, medical diagnostics and navigation. The quantum sensing schemes showing best performance under ambient conditions all utilize microwave or radio-frequency driving, which poses a significant limitation for miniaturization, energy efficiency, and non-invasiveness of quantum sensors. We overcome this limitation by demonstrating a purely optical approach to coherent quantum sensing. Our scheme involves the 15N nuclear spin of the Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) center in diamond as a sensing resource, and exploits NV spin dynamics in oblique magnetic fields near the NV’s excited state level anti-crossing to optically pump the nuclear spin into a quantum superposition state. We demonstrate all-optical free-induction decay measurements—the key protocol for low-frequency quantum sensing—both on single spins and spin ensembles. Our results pave the way for highly compact quantum sensors to be employed for magnetometry or gyroscopy applications in challenging environments.

Sensing at the Nanoscale Using Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond: A Model for a Quantum Pressure Sensor

“…These color centers in certain solid materials show promise for applications ranging from magnetic field sensing with unprecedented sensitivity levels using magnetometry to cellular biomarker-based biology investigations, to quantum communication and quantum computing using optically addressable solid-state qubits [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Moreover, emerging applications in the energy sector such as the expansion of smart grids/meters, driverless vehicles, and nuclear reactors and the discovery of new oil and gas deposits are creating new opportunities for quantum sensing [ 5 , 6 ]. The continued maturation of quantum sensing technologies offers exciting opportunities for quantum-enhanced measurements that may provide significant improvements in sensitivity beyond the classical limits.…”

“…Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are among the most promising color centers in the solid state that hold rich physics and exhibit potential for sensing [ 2 , 6 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] and communication [ 22 , 23 ] applications. In addition, the negatively charged NV centers persistently maintain their desirable electronic features at room temperature, unlike many other solid-state systems for which elevated temperatures greatly reduce the signal-to-noise ratio [ 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Ab initio study of defect interactions between the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centre and the carbon self-interstitial in diamond

“…The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect centre in diamond has in recent years become an important component for quantum sensing [ 1 ] and shows considerable promise for advanced applications in quantum communications and computing [ 2 ]. The centre’s spin-dependant optical transitions ( figure 1 a ) and inter-system crossing between triplet and singlet spin manifolds provide a convenient means of optical initialization and readout of the spin state [ 3 ].…”

Temperature Sensitivity of 14N - V and 15Lourette1, Jarmola2, Acosta3 et al. 2023Phys. Rev. Applied4000View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…Note that 15 N- V nuclear spins were recently explored as a resource for quantum sensing not relying on microwave (MW) or radio-frequency (rf) fields in Ref. [ 14 ].…”