Nanoscale Electrometry Based on a Magnetic-Field-Resistant Spin Sensor

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center is a potential atomic-scale spin sensor for electric field sensing. However, its natural susceptibility to the magnetic field hinders effective detection of the electric field. Here we propose a robust electrometric method utilizing continuous dynamic decoupling (CDD) technique. During the CDD period, the NV center evolves in a dressed frame, where the sensor is resistant to magnetic fields but remains sensitive to electric fields. As an example, we use this method to isolate the electric noise from a complex electromagnetic environment near diamond surface via measuring the dephasing rate between dressed states. By reducing the surface electric noise with different covered liquids, we observe an unambiguous relation between the dephasing rate and the relative dielectric permittivity of the liquid, which enables a quantitative investigation of electric noise model near the diamond surface.Received 20 January 2020Revised 4 May 2020Accepted 29 May 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.247701© 2020 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasChargeDielectric propertiesQuantum metrologyQuantum sensingQuantum InformationCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics