Low temperature photo-physics of single NV centers in diamond

Jodok Happacher , David Broadway , Patrick Reiser , Alejandro Jiménez , Märta A. Tschudin , Lucas Thiel , Dominik Rohner , Marcel. Li Grimau Puigibert , Brendan Shields , Jeronimo R. Maze , Vincent Jacques (1) , Patrick Maletinsky

1 L2C - Laboratoire Charles Coulomb

We investigate the magnetic field dependent photo-physics of individual Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond under cryogenic conditions. At distinct magnetic fields, we observe significant reductions in the NV photoluminescence rate, which indicate a marked decrease in the optical readout efficiency of the NV's ground state spin. We assign these dips to excited state level anti-crossings, which occur at magnetic fields that strongly depend on the effective, local strain environment of the NV center. Our results offer new insights into the structure of the NVs' excited states and a new tool for their effective characterization. Using this tool, we observe strong indications for strain-dependent variations of the NV's orbital g-factor, obtain new insights into NV charge state dynamics, and draw important conclusions regarding the applicability of NV centers for low-temperature quantum sensing.

Mots clés: readout; optical; efficiency; magnetic field; dependence; temperature; low; diamond; excited state; color; cryogenics; ground state; spin; dip; structure

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]; Physique Quantique [quant-ph]

Jodok Happacher, David Broadway, Patrick Reiser, Alejandro Jiménez, Märta A. Tschudin, et al.. Low temperature photo-physics of single NV centers in diamond. Physical Review Letters, 2022, 128, pp.177401. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.177401⟩. ⟨hal-03677973⟩