Sensing electrochemical signals using a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

TL;DR

This paper proposes using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond as nanosensors to detect electrochemical signals and measure ion concentrations in electrolyte solutions through electron spin dephasing rates.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical method to utilize NV centers for electrochemical sensing by analyzing electron spin dephasing and electric field fluctuations.

Findings

Dephasing rates correlate with ionic concentration.

Electric field measurements can estimate ion concentrations.

NV centers can operate in extreme conditions.

Abstract

Chemical sensors with high sensitivity that can be used in extreme conditions and can be miniaturized are of high interest in science and industry. The Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is an ideal candidate as a nanosensor due to the long coherence time of its electron spin and its optical accessibility. In this theoretical work, we propose to use an NV center to detect electrochemical signals emerging from an electrolyte solution, thus obtaining a concentration sensor. For this purpose, we propose to use the inhomogeneous dephasing rate of the electron spin of the NV center ($1/T^*_2$) as a signal. We show that for a range of mean ionic concentrations in the bulk of the electrolyte solution, the electric field fluctuations produced by the diffusional fluctuations in the local concentration of ions, result in dephasing rates which can be inferred from free induction decay measurements. Moreover, we show that for a range of concentrations, the electric field generated at the position of the NV center can also be used to estimate the concentration of ions.