Temperature Dependent Photophysics of Single NV Centers in Diamond

TL;DR

This study investigates how temperature and magnetic fields affect the photoluminescence of individual NV centers in diamond, revealing new insights into their excited state structure and quenching behavior across a wide temperature range.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive model explaining temperature-dependent PL behavior and the influence of strain, advancing understanding of NV center photophysics for quantum sensing.

Findings

Observation of NV's room-temperature excited state structure

Explanation of PL quenching around 50 K

Model showing strain impacts on temperature dependence

Abstract

We present a comprehensive study of the temperature and magnetic-field dependent photoluminescence (PL) of individual NV centers in diamond, spanning the temperature-range from cryogenic to ambient conditions. We directly observe the emergence of the NV's room-temperature effective excited state structure and provide a clear explanation for a previously poorly understood broad quenching of NV PL at intermediate temperatures around 50 K. We develop a model that quantitatively explains all of our findings, including the strong impact that strain has on the temperaturedependence of the NV's PL. These results complete our understanding of orbital averaging in the NV excited state and have significant implications for the fundamental understanding of the NV center and its applications in quantum sensing.