Demonstration of diamond nuclear spin gyroscope

TL;DR

This paper presents a diamond-based nuclear spin gyroscope utilizing $^{14}$N nuclear spins in NV centers, achieving rotation sensing with high sensitivity and stability without microwave resonance, promising for compact inertial navigation.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel diamond nuclear spin gyroscope that employs optical polarization and a double-quantum pulse protocol to enhance stability and sensitivity.

Findings

Achieved a sensitivity of 4.7 °/√s (13 mHz/√Hz).

Demonstrated bias stability of 0.4 °/s (1.1 mHz).

Operates without microwave pulses resonant with NV electron spins.

Abstract

We demonstrate operation of a rotation sensor based on the $^{14}$N nuclear spins intrinsic to nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond. The sensor employs optical polarization and readout of the nuclei and a radio-frequency double-quantum pulse protocol that monitors $^{14}$N nuclear spin precession. This measurement protocol suppresses the sensitivity to temperature variations in the $^{14}$N quadrupole splitting, and it does not require microwave pulses resonant with the NV electron spin transitions. The device was tested on a rotation platform and demonstrated a sensitivity of 4.7 $^{\circ}/\sqrt{\rm{s}}$ (13 mHz/$\sqrt{\rm{Hz}}$), with bias stability of 0.4 $^{\circ}$/s (1.1 mHz).