Magnetic-field-dependent photodynamics of single NV defects in diamond: Application to qualitative all-optical magnetic imaging

Abstract

Magnetometry and magnetic imaging with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects in diamond rely on the optical detection of electron spin resonance (ESR). However, this technique is inherently limited to magnetic fields that are weak enough to avoid electron spin mixing. Here we focus on the high off-axis magnetic field regime for which spin mixing alters the NV defect spin dynamics. We first study in a quantitative manner the dependence of the NV defect optical properties on the magnetic field vector B. Magnetic-field-dependent time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements are compared to a seven-level model of the NV defect that accounts for field-induced spin mixing. The model reproduces the decreases in (i) ESR contrast, (ii) PL intensity and (iii) excited level lifetime with an increasing off-axis magnetic field. We next demonstrate that those effects can be used to perform all-optical magnetic imaging in the high off-axis magnetic field regime. Using a scanning NV defect microscope, we map the stray field of a magnetic hard disk through both PL and fluorescence lifetime imaging. This all-optical method for high magnetic field imaging at the nanoscale might be of interest in the field of nanomagnetism, where samples producing fields in excess of several tens of milliteslas are typical.

References in corpus (15)

• High-sensitivity diamond magnetometer with nanoscale resolution
• A robust, scanning quantum system for nanoscale sensing and imaging
• The nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond re-visited
• Scalable quantum register based on coupled electron spins in a room temperature solid
• Hybrid quantum circuit with a superconducting qubit coupled to a spin ensemble
• Anisotropic interactions of a single spin and dark-spin spectroscopy in diamond
• A single NV defect coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator
• Nonclassical radiation from diamond nanocrystals
• High sensitivity magnetic imaging using an array of spins in diamond
• Low temperature studies of the excited-state structure of Nitrogen-Vacancy color centers in diamond
• Optical properties of the nitrogen-vacancy singlet levels in diamond
• Excited-state spectroscopy of single NV defects in diamond using optically detected magnetic resonance
• Excited-state spectroscopy using single-spin manipulation in diamond
• New infrared emission of the NV centre in diamond: Zeeman and uniaxial stress studies
• Scanning emitter lifetime imaging microscopy for spontaneous emission control

Cited by in corpus (6)

• NV- - N+ pair centre in 1b diamond
• Magnetic imaging with an ensemble of Nitrogen Vacancy centers in diamond
• Spin-Cooling of the Motion of a Trapped Diamond
• Measuring nanoscale magnetic write head fields using a hybrid quantum register
• High-Field Magnetometry with Hyperpolarized Nuclear Spins
• Spin Coherence and ${}^{14}$N ESEEM Effects of Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond with X-band Pulsed ESR