High-Resolution, Ultra-Sensitive Magnetic Imaging Using an Ensemble of Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) Centers in Diamond
Abstract
Magnetic field imaging with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond has received great attention in recent years owing to a unique ability to combine high resolution, high sensitivity, and general-purpose suitability to a wide range of conditions. Other technologies generally cannot provide similar performance and speed at room temperature. In contrast, individual NV centers in diamond are extremely sensitive to magnetic fields and can be localized remotely under ambient conditions to within a few nanometers, limited only by the optical readout system. Very large ensembles of NV centers concentrated at the surface of a diamond chip constitute a magnetic imaging sensor: NV fluorescence collected with and without microwave excitation carries information about the local magnetic field observed by each NV center, and focusing the fluorescence onto a multi-megapixel camera creates a wide-field image with diffraction-limited resolution. With diamond wide-field magnetic imaging, applications previously limited by low resolution can obtain dramatically enhanced detail without sacrificing sensitivity. Conversely, high-resolution images can be obtained over millions of pixels simultaneously rather than laboriously scanning each pixel sequentially. The diamond sensor itself produces no net magnetic field and hence does not disturb high-sensitivity measurements. During this Phase I Option effort, Quantum Diamond Technologies, Inc., (QDTI) advanced the capabilities of wide-field magnetic imaging using diamond, including especially the application to rapid imaging of millimeter-scale fields of view (FOVs). Technical improvements during the Phase I Option are demonstrated through the Phase I target application, detection of magnetically-tagged rare cells.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 14, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA594771
Entities
People
- Colin Connolly