Acoustically Driving the Single-Quantum Spin Transition of Diamond Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers

Mechanical spin control of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond.

We demonstrate direct coupling between phonons and diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spins by driving spin transitions with mechanically generated harmonic strain at room temperature. The amplitude of the mechanically driven spin signal varies with the spatial periodicity of the stress standing wave within the diamond substrate, verifying that we drive NV center spins mechanically. These spi...

Photophysics of single nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond nanocrystals

Control and coherence of the optical transition of single nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond.

We demonstrate coherent control of the optical transition of single nitrogen-vacancy defect centers in diamond. On applying short resonant laser pulses, we observe optical Rabi oscillations with a half period as short as 1 ns, an order of magnitude shorter than the spontaneous emission time. By studying the decay of Rabi oscillations, we find that the decoherence is dominated by laser-induced s...

Single nitrogen vacancy centers in chemical vapor deposited diamond nanocrystals.

Nanodiamond crystals containing single color centers have been grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The fluorescence from individual crystallites was directly correlated with crystallite size using a combined atomic force and scanning confocal fluorescence microscope. Under the conditions employed, the optimal size for single optically active nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center incorporation was ...

Resolving single molecule structures with Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

We present theoretical proposals for two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy protocols based on Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond that are strongly coupled to the target nuclei. Continuous microwave and radio-frequency driving fields together with magnetic field gradients achieve Hartmann-Hahn resonances between NV spin sensor and selected nuclei for control of nuclear sp...