Using silicon-vacancy centers in diamond to probe the full strain tensor

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how silicon-vacancy centers in diamond can be used with coherent spectroscopy to measure the full strain tensor at microscopic scales, revealing local strain variations.

Contribution

It introduces a method to determine the complete strain tensor in diamond using SiV- centers and multidimensional coherent spectroscopy, linking spectral features to strain components.

Findings

Full strain tensor can be extracted from spectral measurements.

Distinct families of SiV- centers correlate with orientation groups.

Local strain variations are observed across the sample surface.

Abstract

An ensemble of silicon vacancy centers in diamond (\ce{SiV-}) is probed using two coherent spectroscopy techniques. Two main distinct families of \ce{SiV-} centers are identified using multidimensional coherent spectroscopy, and these families are paired with two orientation groups by comparing spectra from different linear polarizations of the incident laser. By tracking the peak centers in the measured spectra, the full diamond strain tensor is calculated local to the laser spot. Such measurements are made at multiple points on the sample surface and variations in the strain tensor are observed.