Electronic properties and metrology of the diamond NV- center under pressure

TL;DR

This paper studies the optical and spin properties of the NV- center in diamond under high pressure, revealing limitations of existing models and enabling new pressure measurement techniques.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on NV- centers under pressure and challenges current theoretical models of its electronic structure.

Findings

NV- center's optical and spin resonances observed up to 60 GPa

Current models of the NV- center are inadequate under high pressure

New techniques for pressure measurement and high-pressure imaging are proposed

Abstract

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) center in diamond has realized new frontiers in quantum technology. Here, the center's optical and spin resonances are observed under hydrostatic pressures up to 60 GPa. Our observations motivate powerful new techniques to measure pressure and image high pressure magnetic and electric phenomena. Our observations further reveal a fundamental inadequacy of the current model of the center and provide new insight into its electronic structure.