Controlled Surface Modification to Revive Shallow NV- Centers

Neethirajan, J. N. and Hache, T. and Paone, D. and Pinto, D. and Denisenko, A. and Stöhr, R. and Udvarhelyi, Péter and Pershin, Anton and Gali, Ádám and Wrachtrup, J. and Kern, K. and Singha, A. (2023) Controlled Surface Modification to Revive Shallow NV- Centers. NANO LETTERS, 23 (7). pp. 2563-2569. ISSN 1530-6984

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Abstract

Near-surface negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers hold excellent promise for nanoscale magnetic imaging and quantum sensing. However, they often experience charge-state instabilities, leading to strongly reduced fluorescence and NV coherence time, which negatively impact magnetic imaging sensitivity. This occurs even more severely at 4 K and ultrahigh vacuum (UHV, p = 2 × 10–10 mbar). We demonstrate that in situ adsorption of H2O on the diamond surface allows the partial recovery of the shallow NV sensors. Combining these with band-bending calculations, we conclude that controlled surface treatments are essential for implementing NV-based quantum sensing protocols under cryogenic UHV conditions.

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