Abstract
We investigate the magnetic field dependent photophysics of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond under cryogenic conditions. At distinct magnetic fields, we observe significant reductions in the NV photoluminescence rate, which indicate a marked decrease in the optical readout efficiency of the NV’s ground state spin. We assign these dips to excited state level anticrossings, which occur at magnetic fields that strongly depend on the effective, local strain environment of the NV center. Our results offer new insights into the structure of the NVs’ excited states and a new tool for their effective characterization. Using this tool, we observe strong indications for strain-dependent variations of the NV’s orbital factor, obtain new insights into NV charge state dynamics, and draw important conclusions regarding the applicability of NV centers for low-temperature quantum sensing.
- Received 12 May 2021
- Revised 17 December 2021
- Accepted 18 February 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.177401
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
Published by the American Physical Society