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arXiv · 1811.11498

Zero-field magnetometry based on nitrogen-vacancy ensembles in diamond

Huijie Zheng·Jingyan Xu·Geoffrey Iwata·Till Lenz·Julia Michl·Boris Yavkin·Kazuo Nakamura·Hitoshi Sumiya·Takeshi Ohshima·Junichi Isoya·Joerg Wrachtrup·Arne Wickenbrock·Dmitry Budker
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Abstract

Ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamonds are widely utilized for magnetometry, magnetic-field imaging and magnetic-resonance detection. They have not been used for magnetometry at zero ambient field because Zeeman sublevels lose first-order sensitivity to magnetic fields as they are mixed due to crystal strain or electric fields. In this work, we realize a zero-field (ZF) magnetometer using polarization-selective microwave excitation in a 12C-enriched HPHT crystal sample. We employ circularly polarized microwaves to address specific transitions in the optically detected magnetic resonance and perform magnetometry with a noise floor of 250 pT/Hz^(1/2). This technique opens the door to practical applications of NV sensors for ZF magnetic sensing, such as ZF nuclear magnetic resonance, and investigation of magnetic fields in biological systems.

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Huijie Zheng, Jingyan Xu, Geoffrey Iwata, Till Lenz, Julia Michl, Boris Yavkin, Kazuo Nakamura, Hitoshi Sumiya, Takeshi Ohshima, Junichi Isoya, Joerg Wrachtrup, Arne Wickenbrock, Dmitry Budker. 2019-07-03. Zero-field magnetometry based on nitrogen-vacancy ensembles in diamond. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.11.064068

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