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

npj Quantum Inf. 9, 56 (2023) · DOI: 10.1038/s41534-023-00724-6

License: CC BY 4.0.

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 $^{15}$N 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.

Figures

11 panels with data across 4 figures. Each panel page shows the plot, its columns and its files; each data.csv begins with a header naming the paper, the panel, the source, the license and the provenance route.

Fig. 1

• panel (b): All-optical $^{15}$N nuclear spin precession: normalized PL against free evolution time $\tau$ ($\mu$s) at $|B_{\mathrm{ext}}| = 540$ G and $\Phi = 1^\circ$, measured points (crosses) with the harmonic fit (black line). data.csv
• panel (e): Nuclear precession frequency $f_{\mathrm{nuc}}$ (kHz) against magnetic field $|B_{\mathrm{ext}}|$ (G) at fixed $\Phi = 1^\circ$: experiment (blue crosses), numerical simulation (black dots), analytic prediction (orange line) and the bare Larmor frequency (green line). data.csv

Fig. 2

• panel (a): Map of the nuclear FID contrast $C$ (%) of a single NV against the magnetic tilt angles $\Phi_x$ and $\Phi_y$ (deg) at a fixed total field $|B_{\mathrm{ext}}| = 533$ G. data.csv
• panel (b): Nuclear FID contrast $C$ (%) of the map in (a) against the transverse magnetic field $|B_\perp|$ (G): experiment (crosses) and the numerical model normalized to the data (black line). data.csv
• panel (c): Map of the nuclear FID contrast $C$ (%) against the magnetic tilt angle $\Phi$ (deg) and the total field $|B_{\mathrm{ext}}|$ (G), 19 field values by 31 angles. Each cell is centred on its measured field and angle; the print draws each from its value to the next. data.csv
• panel (d-1): Upper plot of (d): tilt angle $\Phi_{\mathrm{opt}}$ (deg) of maximal contrast against magnetic field $|B_{\mathrm{ext}}|$ (G), experiment (crosses) and numerical model (black line). The print stacks it above $C_{\mathrm{max}}$ on one frame; here it has its own panel and axis. data.csv
• panel (d-2): Lower plot of (d): maximal observed contrast $C_{\mathrm{max}}$ (%) against magnetic field $|B_{\mathrm{ext}}|$ (G), experiment (crosses) and numerical model normalized to the maximal data point (black line). data.csv

Fig. 3

• panel (a): $^{15}$N nuclear precession frequency $f_{\mathrm{nuc}}$ (kHz) against the magnetic tilt angles $\Phi_x$ and $\Phi_y$ (deg) at $|B_{\mathrm{ext}}| = 533$ G, for the data of Fig. 2(a). Pixels with $C \le 1$ % are left blank (grey in the print). data.csv
• panel (b): Nuclear precession frequency $f_{\mathrm{nuc}}$ (kHz) of (a) against the transverse magnetic field $|B_\perp|$ (G): experiment (crosses), numerical model (black), prediction of Eq. (5) (orange) and the bare Larmor frequency $\gamma_I B_z$ (green). Pixels with $C \le 1$ % are omitted, as in (a). data.csv

Fig. 4

• panel (a): All-optical nuclear spin precession of a single NV in a diamond nanopillar: normalized PL against free evolution time $\tau$ ($\mu$s), measured trace (blue line) with the damped harmonic fit (black dash-dot line). data.csv
• panel (b): All-optical nuclear spin precession of an NV ensemble in bulk diamond: normalized PL against free evolution time $\tau$ ($\mu$s), measured trace (blue line) with the damped harmonic fit (black dash-dot line). data.csv

Cite

B. Bürgler, T. F. Sjolander, O. Brinza, A. Tallaire, J. Achard, P. Maletinsky. All-optical nuclear quantum sensing using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. npj Quantum Inf. 9, 56 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-023-00724-6

When you use hosted data, cite the original paper and give the panel's URL so a reader can find the exact values you used.

All papers · About · Statistics · Submit data · API