Widefield quantum microscopy with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond: strengths, limitations, and prospects

TL;DR

Widefield NV center microscopy in diamond offers a powerful, non-invasive way to map local magnetic, electric, and strain fields with potential across physics, geoscience, and biology, but faces challenges in resolution, sensitivity, and usability.

Contribution

This paper reviews the strengths, limitations, and future prospects of widefield NV microscopy, providing guidance for technological improvements and applications.

Findings

Identifies current limitations in spatial resolution and sensitivity.

Compares NV microscopy with alternative techniques.

Suggests technological advances for practical implementation.

Abstract

A dense layer of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers near the surface of a diamond can be interrogated in a widefield optical microscope to produce spatially resolved maps of local quantities such as magnetic field, electric field and lattice strain, providing potentially valuable information about a sample or device placed in proximity. Since the first experimental realization of such a widefield NV microscope in 2010, the technology has seen rapid development and demonstration of applications in various areas across condensed matter physics, geoscience and biology. This Perspective analyzes the strengths and shortcomings of widefield NV microscopy in order to identify the most promising applications and guide future development. We begin with a brief review of quantum sensing with ensembles of NV centers, and the experimental implementation of widefield NV microscopy. We then compare this technology to alternative microscopy techniques commonly employed to probe magnetic materials and charge flow distributions. Current limitations in spatial resolution, measurement accuracy, magnetic sensitivity, operating conditions and ease of use, are discussed. Finally, we identify the technological advances that solve the aforementioned limitations, and argue that their implementation would result in a practical, accessible, high-throughput widefield NV microscope.