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Shinichi Shikata

Publications and source records attributed to Shinichi Shikata.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Monitoring spin coherence of single nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds during pH changes in aqueous buffer solutions

We report on sensing stability of nanodiamond (ND) quantum sensors in various pH aqueous buffer solutions for the two detection schemes of quantum decoherence spectroscopy and thermometry. The electron spin properties of single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in 25-nm-sized NDs have been characterized by a spin-measurement compatible perfusion (SMCP) chamber where observing the same individual NDs in different buffer solutions is possible. With this system, we have determined the stability of the NV quantum sensors during the pH change from 4 to 11 as the fluctuations of +- 12% and +- 0.2 MHz for the spin coherence time ($T_2$) and the resonance frequency ($ω_0$) of their mean values, which are comparable to the instrumental error of the measurement system. Here, we discuss the importance of characterizing the sensing stability during pH changes and how the present observations affect ND-based NV quantum sensing.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Effect of surface oxidation on electron spin coherence of single nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds

Fluorescent nanodiamonds (NDs) are crystal defect-based light-emitting nanoparticles that can be applied to quantum information science and quantum sensing. Of particular interest are nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers that allow optical access to their coherently controllable electron spin systems, leading to spin-photon quantum devices and nanoscale sensing of various physical parameters. However, the NV spin coherence time (T2) in NDs has been limited to one or two orders of magnitude shorter than those in bulk diamonds owing to the complicated surface effect that decoheres the NV spin systems. Here, we study the relation between the surface properties and T2 of single NV centers in NDs by systematically analyzing the effect of surface oxidation. We apply aerobic and acidic oxidation methods with various heating temperatures and processing times and find that aerobic oxidation most effectively oxidizes the surface and extends T2 by a factor of 1.6 to the original NDs. The ND-size dependence of T2 clearly shows that the surface oxidation removes a constant decoherence contribution irrespective of the ND size and that a new surface derived decoherence source emerges when the ND size reduces below 50 nm. The present results provide quantitative information on the decoherence sources of NV spin systems of NDs and will enable a strategic surface modification for better spin manipulations of NV centers in the context of quantum information science and nanoscale quantum sensing.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Observation of rotational Brownian motion of single diamond nanoparticles

Capturing the rotational motion of single nanoparticles has been hindered owing to the difficulty of acquiring directional information under the optical diffraction limit. Here, we demonstrate that electron spins of single nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers can sense the rotational Brownian motion of their host nanodiamonds. When nanodiamonds are gradually detached from the substrates that they were fixed to, their optically detected spin resonance peaks are broadened by 1.8 MHz, which corresponds to the rotational diffusion constant of nanoparticles with a diameter of 11.4 nm from the Einstein-Smoluchowski relation.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Absolute magnetometry based on quantum beats in diamond nitrogen-vacancy centers

We demonstrate an absolute magnetometer immune to temperature fluctuation and strain inhomogeneity, based on quantum beats in the ground state of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. We apply this technique to measure low-frequency magnetic field noise using a single nitrogen-vacancy center located within 500 nm of the surface of an isotopically-pure (99.99% C12) diamond. The photon-shot-noise limited sensitivity achieves 38 nT/Hz^1/2 for 4.45 s acquisition time, a factor of 2^1/2 better than the implementation which uses only two spin levels. For long acquisition times (>10 s), we realize up to a factor of 15 improvement in magnetic sensitivity, which demonstrates the robustness of our technique against thermal drifts. Applying our technique to nitrogen-vacancy center ensembles, we eliminate dephasing from longitudinal strain inhomogeneity, resulting in a factor of 2.3 improvement in sensitivity.

quant-ph