Unraveling quantum dephasing of nitrogen-vacancy center ensembles in diamond
Source abstract
Abstract
Abstract Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center ensembles in diamond are one of the most promising solid-state quantum platforms for various sensing applications. Achieving ultimate sensitivity requires simultaneously long spin dephasing times ( $${T}2* $$ ) and high NV center concentrations. In this work, we propose a systematic measurement approach to quantify the electron spin dephasing in NV center ensembles and analyze the contributions of various sources to the dephasing time, including NV-NV interactions, strain and electric field distributions, 13 C nuclear spins, and P1 electron spins. Our method is validated using a series of high-performance diamond samples, providing a comprehensive understanding of dephasing mechanisms and revealing correlations between NV concentration and different dephasing sources. Building on these insights, we outline strategies to further enhance the achievable sensitivity for DC magnetic field measurements.
Source: crossref · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research · Ion-surface interactions and analysis · Graphene research and applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (54)
Show source-provided references
1. Balasubramanian, G. et al. Nanoscale imaging magnetometry with diamond spins under ambient conditions. Nature 455, 648 (2008).10.1038/nature07278 ↗
2. Koehl, W. F., Buckley, B. B., Heremans, F. J., Calusine, G. & Awschalom, D. D. Room temperature coherent control of defect spin qubits in silicon carbide. Nature 479, 84–87 (2011).10.1038/nature10562 ↗
3. Atatüre, M., Englund, D., Vamivakas, N., Lee, S.-Y. & Wrachtrup, J. Material platforms for spin-based photonic quantum technologies. Nat. Rev. Mater. 3, 38–51 (2018).10.1038/s41578-018-0008-9 ↗
4. Hsieh, S. et al. Imaging stress and magnetism at high pressures using a nanoscale quantum sensor. Science 366, 1349–1354 (2019).10.1126/science.aaw4352 ↗
5. Dolde, F. et al. Electric-field sensing using single diamond spins. Nat. Phys. 7, 459–463 (2011).10.1038/nphys1969 ↗
6. Maletinsky, P. et al. A robust scanning diamond sensor for nanoscale imaging with single nitrogen-vacancy centres. Nat. Nanotechnol. 7, 320–324 (2012).10.1038/nnano.2012.50 ↗
7. Abobeih, M. et al. Fault-tolerant operation of a logical qubit in a diamond quantum processor. Nature 606, 884–889 (2022).10.1038/s41586-022-04819-6 ↗
8. Boto, E. et al. Moving magnetoencephalography towards real-world applications with a wearable system. Nature 555, 657–661 (2018).10.1038/nature26147 ↗
9. Shi, F. et al. Single-protein spin resonance spectroscopy under ambient conditions. Science 347, 1135–1138 (2015).10.1126/science.aaa2253 ↗
10. Song, T. et al. Direct visualization of magnetic domains and moiré magnetism in twisted 2d magnets. Science 374, 1140–1144 (2021).10.1126/science.abj7478 ↗
11. Du, J., Shi, F., Kong, X., Jelezko, F. & Wrachtrup, J. Single-molecule scale magnetic resonance spectroscopy using quantum diamond sensors. Rev. Mod. Phys. 96, 025001 (2024).10.1103/RevModPhys.96.025001 ↗
12. Xie, Y.-M. & Nagaosa, N. Probing loop currents and collective modes of charge density waves in kagome materials with nv centers. npj Quantum Mater. 10, 64 (2025).10.1038/s41535-025-00780-5 ↗
13. Barry, J. F. et al. Sensitive ac and dc magnetometry with nitrogen-vacancy-center ensembles in diamond. Phys. Rev. Appl. 22, 044069 (2024).10.1103/PhysRevApplied.22.044069 ↗
14. Levine, E. V. et al. Principles and techniques of the quantum diamond microscope. Nanophotonics 8, 1945–1973 (2019).10.1515/nanoph-2019-0209 ↗
15. Huang, Y. et al. New constraints on exotic spin-spin-velocity-dependent interactions with solid-state quantum sensors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 180801 (2024).10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.180801 ↗
16. Zhang, C. et al. Optimizing nv magnetometry for magnetoneurography and magnetomyography applications. Front. Neurosci. 16, 2340 (2022).
17. Barry, J. F. et al. Sensitivity optimization for nv-diamond magnetometry. Rev. Mod. Phys. 92, 015004 (2020).10.1103/RevModPhys.92.015004 ↗
18. Edmonds, A. M. et al. Characterisation of cvd diamond with high concentrations of nitrogen for magnetic-field sensing applications. Mater. Quantum Technol. 1, 025001 (2021).10.1088/2633-4356/abd88a ↗
19. Allred, J., Lyman, R., Kornack, T. & Romalis, M. V. High-sensitivity atomic magnetometer unaffected by spin-exchange relaxation. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 130801 (2002).10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.130801 ↗
20. Luo, T. et al. Creation of nitrogen-vacancy centers in chemical vapor deposition diamond for sensing applications. N. J. Phys. 24, 033030 (2022).10.1088/1367-2630/ac58b6 ↗
21. Kucsko, G. et al. Critical thermalization of a disordered dipolar spin system in diamond. Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 023601 (2018).10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.023601 ↗
22. Choi, J. et al. Robust dynamic hamiltonian engineering of many-body spin systems. Phys. Rev. X 10, 031002 (2020).
23. Abanin, D. A., Altman, E., Bloch, I. & Serbyn, M. Colloquium: Many-body localization, thermalization, and entanglement. Rev. Mod. Phys. 91, 021001 (2019).10.1103/RevModPhys.91.021001 ↗
24. Hymas, K. et al. Discriminating ferrotoroidic from antiferrotoroidic ground states using a 3d quantum spin sensor. npj Quantum Mater. 9, 106 (2024).10.1038/s41535-024-00712-9 ↗
25. Ciccarino, C. J. et al. Strong spin–orbit quenching via the product jahn–teller effect in neutral group iv qubits in diamond. npj Quantum Mater. 5, 75 (2020).10.1038/s41535-020-00281-7 ↗
26. Bauch, E. et al. Decoherence of ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. Phys. Rev. B 102, 134210 (2020).10.1103/PhysRevB.102.134210 ↗
27. Dobrovitski, V. V., Feiguin, A. E., Awschalom, D. D. & Hanson, R. Decoherence dynamics of a single spin versus spin ensemble. Phys. Rev. B 77, 245212 (2008).10.1103/PhysRevB.77.245212 ↗
28. Wang, Y.Using spins in diamond for quantum technologies. Ph.D. thesis, Delft University of Technology (2023).
29. Eichhorn, T. R., McLellan, C. A. & Bleszynski Jayich, A. C. Optimizing the formation of depth-confined nitrogen vacancy center spin ensembles in diamond for quantum sensing. Phys. Rev. Mater. 3, 113802 (2019).10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.113802 ↗
30. Li, S. et al. Determination of local defect density in diamond by double electron-electron resonance. Phys. Rev. B 104, 094307 (2021).10.1103/PhysRevB.104.094307 ↗
31. Mittiga, T. et al. Imaging the local charge environment of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 246402 (2018).10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.246402 ↗
32. Marshall, M. C. et al. High-precision mapping of diamond crystal strain using quantum interferometry. Phys. Rev. Appl. 17, 024041 (2022).10.1103/PhysRevApplied.17.024041 ↗
33. Balasubramanian, P. et al. Dc magnetometry with engineered nitrogen-vacancy spin ensembles in diamond. Nano Lett. 19, 6681–6686 (2019).10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b02993 ↗
34. Cambria, M. C. et al. State-dependent phonon-limited spin relaxation of nitrogen-vacancy centers. Phys. Rev. Res. 3, 013123 (2021).10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013123 ↗
35. Bauch, E. et al. Ultralong dephasing times in solid-state spin ensembles via quantum control. Phys. Rev. X 8, 031025 (2018).
36. Abragam, A. The Principles of Nuclear Magnetism vol. 32 (Oxford University Press, 1961).
37. Rubinas, O. R. et al. Optimization of the double electron-electron resonance for c-centers in diamond. Phys. status solidi (RRL) - Rapid Res. Lett. 16, 2100561 (2022).10.1002/pssr.202100561 ↗
38. Degen, M. et al. Entanglement of dark electron-nuclear spin defects in diamond. Nat. Commun. 12, 1–10 (2021).10.1038/s41467-021-23454-9 ↗
39. Grinolds, M. et al. Subnanometre resolution in three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of individual dark spins. Nat. Nanotechnol. 9, 279–284 (2014).10.1038/nnano.2014.30 ↗
40. Findler, C. et al. Detecting nitrogen-vacancy-hydrogen centers on the nanoscale using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. Phys. Rev. Mater. 8, 026203 (2024).10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.8.026203 ↗
41. Wong, K. C. et al. Microscopic study of optically stable coherent color centers in diamond generated by high-temperature annealing. Phys. Rev. Appl. 18, 024044 (2022).10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.024044 ↗
42. Knowles, H. S., Kara, D. M. & Atatüre, M. Observing bulk diamond spin coherence in high-purity nanodiamonds. Nat. Mater. 13, 21–25 (2014).10.1038/nmat3805 ↗
43. De Lange, G. et al. Controlling the quantum dynamics of a mesoscopic spin bath in diamond. Sci. Rep. 2, 1–5 (2012).10.1038/srep00382 ↗
44. Joos, M., Bluvstein, D., Lyu, Y., Weld, D. & Bleszynski Jayich, A. Protecting qubit coherence by spectrally engineered driving of the spin environment. npj Quantum Inf. 8, 1–5 (2022).10.1038/s41534-022-00560-0 ↗
45. Michl, J. et al. Perfect alignment and preferential orientation of nitrogen-vacancy centers during chemical vapor deposition diamond growth on (111) surfaces. Applied Physics Letters104 (2014).10.1063/1.4868128 ↗
46. Schenken, W. K. et al. Long-lived coherences in strongly interacting spin ensembles. arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.15444 (2023).10.1103/PhysRevA.110.032612 ↗
47. He, G. et al. Quasi-floquet prethermalization in a disordered dipolar spin ensemble in diamond. Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 130401 (2023).10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.130401 ↗
48. Jamonneau, P. et al. Competition between electric field and magnetic field noise in the decoherence of a single spin in diamond. Phys. Rev. B 93, 024305 (2016).10.1103/PhysRevB.93.024305 ↗
49. Tang, J. et al. Quantum diamond microscope for dynamic imaging of magnetic fields. AVS Quantum Science5 (2023).10.1116/5.0176317 ↗
50. Zhang, C. et al. Diamond magnetometry and gradiometry towards subpicotesla dc field measurement. Phys. Rev. Appl. 15, 064075 (2021).10.1103/PhysRevApplied.15.064075 ↗
51. Aslam, N. et al. Nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance with chemical resolution. Science 357, 67–71 (2017).10.1126/science.aam8697 ↗
52. Herbschleb, E. et al. Ultra-long coherence times amongst room-temperature solid-state spins. Nat. Commun. 10, 3766 (2019).10.1038/s41467-019-11776-8 ↗
53. Yang, W. & Liu, R.-B. Quantum many-body theory of qubit decoherence in a finite-size spin bath. ii. ensemble dynamics. Phys. Rev. B 79, 115320 (2009).10.1103/PhysRevB.79.115320 ↗
54. Park, H., Lee, J., Han, S., Oh, S. & Seo, H. Decoherence of nitrogen-vacancy spin ensembles in a nitrogen electron-nuclear spin bath in diamond. npj Quantum Inf. 8, 1–6 (2022).