Generation of spin-polarized currents via cross-relaxation with dynamically pumped paramagnetic impurities

Key to future spintronics and spin-based information processing technologies is the generation, manipulation, and detection of spin polarization in a solid state platform. Here, we theoretically explore an alternative route to spin injection via the use of dynamically polarized nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. We focus on the geometry where carriers and NV centers are confined to proximate, parallel layers and use a 'trap-and-release' model to calculate the spin cross-relaxation probabilities between the charge carriers and neighboring NV centers. We identify near-unity regimes of carrier polarization depending on the NV spin state, applied magnetic field, and carrier g-factor. In particular, we find that unlike holes, electron spins are distinctively robust against spin-lattice relaxation by other, unpolarized paramagnetic centers. Further, the polarization process is only weakly dependent on the carrier hopping dynamics, which makes this approach potentially applicable over a broad range of temperatures.C.A.M. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation through Grant No. NSF-1314205. M.W.D. acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council through Grant No. DP120102232

Spin readout via spin-to-charge conversion in bulk diamond nitrogen-vacancy ensembles

We demonstrate optical readout of ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy(NV) center spins in a bulk diamond sample via spin-to-charge conversion. A high power 594 nm laser is utilized to selectively ionize these paramagnetic defects in the spin state with a contrast of up to 12%. In comparison with the conventional 520 nm spin readout, spin-to-charge-conversion-based readout provides higher signal-to-noise ratio, with tenfold sensing measurement speedup for millisecond long pulse sequences. This level of performance was achieved for an NV- ionization of only 25%, limited by the ionization and readout laser powers. These observations pave the way to a range of high-sensitivity metrology applications where the use of NV- ensembles in bulk diamond has proven useful, including sensing and imaging of target materials overlaid on the diamond surface

Magnetometry of random AC magnetic fields using a single Nitrogen-Vacancy center

We report on the use of a single NV center to probe fluctuating AC magnetic fields. Using engineered currents to induce random changes in the field amplitude and phase, we show that stochastic fluctuations reduce the NV center sensitivity and, in general, make the NV response field-dependent. We also introduce two modalities to determine the field spectral composition, unknown a priori in a practical application. One strategy capitalizes on the generation of AC-field-induced coherence 'revivals', while the other approach uses the time-tagged fluorescence intensity record from successive NV observations to reconstruct the AC field spectral density. These studies are relevant for magnetic sensing in scenarios where the field of interest has a non-trivial, stochastic behavior, such as sensing unpolarized nuclear spin ensembles at low static magnetic fields.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

The diamond Nitrogen-Vacancy center as a probe of random fluctuations in a nuclear spin ensemble

New schemes that exploit the unique properties of Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are presently being explored as a platform for high-resolution magnetic sensing. Here we focus on the ability of a NV center to monitor an adjacent mesoscopic nuclear spin bath. For this purpose, we conduct comparative experiments where the NV spin evolves under the influence of surrounding 13C nuclei or, alternatively, in the presence of asynchronous AC fields engineered to emulate bath fluctuations. Our study reveals substantial differences that underscore the limitations of the semi-classical picture when interpreting and predicting the outcome of experiments designed to probe small nuclear spin ensembles. In particular, our study elucidates the NV center response to bath fluctuations under common pulse sequences, and explores a detection protocol designed to probe time correlations of the nuclear spin bath dynamics. Further, we show that the presence of macroscopic nuclear spin order is key to the emergence of semi-classical spin magnetometry.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figure

METHOD FOR HYPER-POLARIZING NUCLEAR SPNS AT ARBTRARY MAGNETIC FELDS

A method of dynamically polarizing the nuclear spin host of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond is provided. The method uses optical, microwave and radio-frequency pulses to recursively transfer spin polarization from the NV electronic spin. Nitrogen nuclear spin initialization approaching 80% at room temperature is demonstrated both in ensemble and single NV centers without relying on level anti-crossings. This makes the method applicable at arbitrary magnetic fields

Long-term data storage in diamond

The negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV−) center in diamond is the focus of widespread attention for applications ranging from quantum information processing to nanoscale metrology. Althoughmostwork so far has focused on the NV− optical and spin properties, control of the charge state promises complementary opportunities. One intriguing possibility is the long-term storage of information, a notion we hereby introduce using NV-rich, type 1b diamond. As a proof of principle, we use multicolor optical microscopy to read, write, and reset arbitrary data sets with twodimensional (2D) binary bit density comparable to present digital-video-disk (DVD) technology. Leveraging on the singular dynamics of NV− ionization, we encode information on different planes of the diamond crystal with no crosstalk, hence extending the storage capacity to three dimensions. Furthermore, we correlate the center’s charge state and the nuclear spin polarization of the nitrogen host and showthat the latter is robust to a cycle of NV− ionization and recharge. In combination with super-resolution microscopy techniques, these observations provide a route toward subdiffraction NV charge control, a regime where the storage capacity could exceed present technologies