Microwave-free magnetometry with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

We use magnetic-field-dependent features in the photoluminescence of negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centers to measure magnetic fields without the use of microwaves. In particular, we present a magnetometer based on the level anti-crossing in the triplet ground state at 102.4 mT with a demonstrated noise floor of 6 nT/Hz, limited by the intensity noise of the laser and the performance of the background-field power supply. The technique presented here can be useful in applications where the sensor is placed close to conductive materials, e.g., magnetic induction tomography or magnetic field mapping, and in remote-sensing applications since principally no electrical access is needed.