Magnetic-field-dependent photodynamics of single NV defects in diamond: Application to qualitative all-optical magnetic imaging

Magnetometry and magnetic imaging with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects in diamond rely on the optical detection of electron spin resonance (ESR). However, this technique is inherently limited to magnetic fields that are weak enough to avoid electron spin mixing. Here we focus on the high off-axis magn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors J -P Tetienne, Rondin, L, Spinicelli, P, Chipaux, M, Debuisschert, T, J -F Roch, Jacques, V
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 22.10.2012
Subjects
Defects
Diamonds
Disk drives
Electron paramagnetic resonance
Electron spin
Electrons
Fluorescence
Imaging
Magnetic fields
Magnetic measurement
Magnetic properties
Optical properties
Photoluminescence
Spin dynamics
Spin resonance
Time dependence
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Summary:Magnetometry and magnetic imaging with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects in diamond rely on the optical detection of electron spin resonance (ESR). However, this technique is inherently limited to magnetic fields that are weak enough to avoid electron spin mixing. Here we focus on the high off-axis magnetic field regime for which spin mixing alters the NV defect spin dynamics. We first study in a quantitative manner the dependence of the NV defect optical properties on the magnetic field vector B. Magnetic-field-dependent time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements are compared to a seven-level model of the NV defect that accounts for field-induced spin mixing. The model reproduces the decreases in (i) ESR contrast, (ii) PL intensity and (iii) excited level lifetime with an increasing off-axis magnetic field. We next demonstrate that those effects can be used to perform all-optical magnetic imaging in the high off-axis magnetic field regime. Using a scanning NV defect microscope, we map the stray field of a magnetic hard disk through both PL and fluorescence lifetime imaging. This all-optical method for high magnetic field imaging at the nanoscale might be of interest in the field of nanomagnetism, where samples producing fields in excess of several tens of milliteslas are typical.
ISSN:2331-8422