No Arabic abstract
We present a study of the spin properties of dense layers of near-surface nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in diamond created by nitrogen ion implantation. The optically detected magnetic resonance contrast and linewidth, spin coherence time, and spin relaxation time, are measured as a function of implantation energy, dose, annealing temperature and surface treatment. To track the presence of damage and surface-related spin defects, we perform in situ electron spin resonance spectroscopy through both double electron-electron resonance and cross-relaxation spectroscopy on the NV centres. We find that, for the energy ($4-30$~keV) and dose ($5times10^{11}-10^{13}$~ions/cm$^2$) ranges considered, the NV spin properties are mainly governed by the dose via residual implantation-induced paramagnetic defects, but that the resulting magnetic sensitivity is essentially independent of both dose and energy. We then show that the magnetic sensitivity is significantly improved by high-temperature annealing at $geq1100^circ$C. Moreover, the spin properties are not significantly affected by oxygen annealing, apart from the spin relaxation time, which is dramatically decreased. Finally, the average NV depth is determined by nuclear magnetic resonance measurements, giving $approx10$-17~nm at 4-6 keV implantation energy. This study sheds light on the optimal conditions to create dense layers of near-surface NV centres for high-sensitivity sensing and imaging applications.
We present an experimental and theoretical study of electronic spin decoherence in ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in bulk high-purity diamond at room temperature. Under appropriate conditions, we find ensemble NV spin coherence times (T_2) comparable to that of single NVs, with T_2 > 600 microseconds for a sample with natural abundance of 13C and paramagnetic impurity density ~10^15 cm^(-3). We also observe a sharp decrease of the coherence time with misalignment of the static magnetic field relative to the NV electronic spin axis, consistent with theoretical modeling of NV coupling to a 13C nuclear spin bath. The long coherence times and increased signal-to-noise provided by room-temperature NV ensembles will aid many applications of NV centers in precision magnetometry and quantum information.
The protocols for the control and readout of Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) centres electron spins in diamond offer an advanced platform for quantum computation, metrology and sensing. These protocols are based on the optical readout of photons emitted from NV centres, which process is limited by the yield of photons collection. Here we report on a novel principle for the detection of NV centres magnetic resonance in diamond by directly monitoring spin-preserving electron transitions through measurement of NV centre related photocurrent. The demonstrated direct detection technique offers a sensitive way for the readout of diamond NV sensors and diamond quantum devices on diamond chips. The Photocurrent Detection of Magnetic Resonance (PDMR) scheme is based on the detection of charge carriers promoted to the conduction band of diamond by the two-photon ionization of NV- centres. Optical detection of magnetic resonance (ODMR) and PDMR are compared, by performing both measurements simultaneously. The minima detected in the measured photocurrent at resonant microwave frequencies are attributed to the spin-dependent occupation probability of the NV- ground state, originating from spin-selective non-radiative transitions.
Coherent communication over mesoscale distances is a necessary condition for the application of solid-state spin qubits to scalable quantum information processing. Among other routes under study, one possibility entails the generation of magnetostatic surface spin waves (MSSW) dipolarly coupled to shallow paramagnetic defects in wide-bandgap semiconductors. As an initial step in this direction, here we make use of room-temperature MSSWs to mediate the interaction between the microwave field from an antenna and the spin of a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond. We show that this transport spans distances exceeding 3 mm, a manifestation of the MSSW robustness and long diffusion length. Using the NV spin as a local sensor, we find that the MSSW amplitude grows linearly with the applied microwave power, suggesting this approach could be extended to amplify the signal from neighboring spin qubits by several orders of magnitude.
After initial proof-of-principle demonstrations, optically pumped nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in diamond have been proposed as a non-invasive platform to achieve hyperpolarisation of nuclear spins in molecular samples over macroscopic volumes and enhance the sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. In this work, we model the process of polarisation of external samples by NV centres and theoretically evaluate their performance in a range of scenarios. We find that average nuclear spin polarisations exceeding 10% can in principle be generated over macroscopic sample volumes ($gtrsimmu$L) with a careful engineering of the systems geometry to maximise the diamond-sample contact area. The fabrication requirements and other practical challenges are discussed. We then explore the possibility of exploiting local polarisation enhancements in nano/micro-NMR experiments based on NV centres. For micro-NMR, we find that modest signal enhancements over thermal polarisation (by 1-2 orders of magnitude) can in essence be achieved with existing technology, with larger enhancements achievable via micro-structuring of the sample/substrate interface. However, there is generally no benefit for nano-NMR where the detection of statistical polarisation provides the largest signal-to-noise ratio. This work will guide future experimental efforts to integrate NV-based hyperpolarisation to NMR systems.
We investigate spin and optical properties of individual nitrogen-vacancy centers located within 1-10 nm from the diamond surface. We observe stable defects with a characteristic optically detected magnetic resonance spectrum down to lowest depth. We also find a small, but systematic spectral broadening for defects shallower than about 2 nm. This broadening is consistent with the presence of a surface paramagnetic impurity layer [Tisler et al., ACS Nano 3, 1959 (2009)] largely decoupled by motional averaging. The observation of stable and well-behaved defects very close to the surface is critical for single-spin sensors and devices requiring nanometer proximity to the target.