Diamond Micro-Chip for Quantum Microscopy

TL;DR

This paper introduces a diamond micro-chip with a (111)-oriented NV ensemble that enables high-resolution, wide-field quantum microscopy with minimal strain variation, suitable for diverse scientific applications.

Contribution

The work demonstrates the fabrication, characterization, and application of a novel diamond micro-chip for scalable, high-throughput quantum microscopy, including transfer and placement techniques.

Findings

Minimal strain variation across tens of micrometers

Good NV spin coherence and optical properties

Successful wide-field quantum microscopy of electrical current

Abstract

The nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond is an increasingly popular quantum sensor for microscopy of electrical current, magnetization, and spins. However, efficient NV-sample integration with a robust, high-quality interface remains an outstanding challenge to realize scalable, high-throughput microscopy. In this work, we characterize a diamond micro-chip (DMC) containing a (111)-oriented NV ensemble; and demonstrate its utility for high-resolution quantum microscopy. We perform strain imaging of the DMC and find minimal detrimental strain variation across a field-of-view of tens of micrometer. We find good ensemble NV spin coherence and optical properties in the DMC, suitable for sensitive magnetometry. We then use the DMC to demonstrate wide-field microscopy of electrical current, and show that diffraction-limited quantum microscopy can be achieved. We also demonstrate the deterministic transfer of DMCs with multiple materials of interest for next-generation electronics and spintronics. Lastly, we develop a polymer-based technique for DMC placement. This work establishes the DMC's potential to expand the application of NV quantum microscopy in materials, device, geological, biomedical, and chemical sciences.