Charge carrier enhanced spin-contrast of nitrogen-vacancy in diamond

Abstract

Quantum technologies is a rapidly evolving field, promising several breakthroughs in the areas of communication, computing and sensing. [1] It has already proven itself essential in developing high-precision nanoscale sensors, [2–6] and further developments in this field might result in discovering new applications. We developed a model based on surface electron traps, which can explain the photovoltaic effect as well as the effect of charge release. Using this model, we fit the non-linear dependence of PC on the charge generation rate. The direct evidence of the existence of such trap levels is still missing. However, if confirmed, the model could be used to optimize the conditions for sample preparation to achieve the best PC readout.