Camera-limits for wide-field magnetic resonance imaging of a nitrogen-vacancy spin sensor

TL;DR

This paper analyzes camera sensor limitations in wide-field NV center magnetometry, demonstrating that specialized cameras can achieve nanotesla sensitivity in real-time imaging with micrometer resolution.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of camera sensor types and demonstrates the potential of lock-in cameras for real-time, high-sensitivity magnetic field imaging.

Findings

Most common sensors are limited for NV magnetometry.

Certain specialized cameras enable nanotesla sensitivity in 1 second.

Lock-in camera results demonstrate real-time wide-field magnetometry.

Abstract

Sensitive, real-time optical magnetometry with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond relies on accurate imaging of small ($\ll 10^{-2}$) fractional fluorescence changes across the diamond sample. We discuss the limitations on magnetic-field sensitivity resulting from the limited number of photoelectrons that a camera can record in a given time. Several types of camera sensors are analyzed and the smallest measurable magnetic-field change is estimated for each type. We show that most common sensors are of a limited use in such applications, while certain highly specific cameras allow to achieve nanotesla-level sensitivity in $1$~s of a combined exposure. Finally, we demonstrate the results obtained with a lock-in camera that pave the way for real-time, wide-field magnetometry at the nanotesla level and with micrometer resolution.