Charge stability and charge-state-based spin readout of shallow nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a charge-state-based spin readout method for shallow nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, showing improved stability and reduced noise, crucial for nano-scale sensing applications.

Contribution

The paper presents the first application of spin-to-charge conversion on shallow NV centers near the surface, highlighting surface effects and surface coating benefits.

Findings

Charge stability correlates with readout noise.

Glycerol coating improves charge stability and initialization.

Reduced readout noise of 5-6 times the spin-projection noise limit.

Abstract

Spin-based applications of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamonds require efficient spin readout. One approach is the spin-to-charge conversion (SCC), relying on mapping the spin states onto the neutral (NV$^0$) and negative (NV$^-$) charge states followed by a subsequent charge readout. With high charge-state stability, SCC enables extended measurement times, increasing precision and minimizing noise in the readout compared to the commonly used fluorescence detection. Nano-scale sensing applications, however, require shallow NV centers within a few $\si{\nano \meter}$ distance from the surface where surface related effects might degrade the NV charge state. In this article, we investigate the charge state initialization and stability of single NV centers implanted $\approx \SI{5}{\nano \meter}$ below the surface of a flat diamond plate. We demonstrate the SCC protocol on four shallow NV centers suitable for nano-scale sensing, obtaining a reduced readout noise of 5--6 times the spin-projection noise limit. We investigate the general applicability of SCC for shallow NV centers and observe a correlation between NV charge-state stability and readout noise. Coating the diamond with glycerol improves both charge initialization and stability. Our results reveal the influence of the surface-related charge environment on the NV charge properties and motivate further investigations to functionalize the diamond surface with glycerol or other materials for charge-state stabilization and efficient spin-state readout of shallow NV centers suitable for nano-scale sensing.