Harnessing individual nitrogen-vacancy centers with a compact and portable confocal microscope

Abstract Recent advancements in quantum technology have highlighted the potential of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. However, fully realizing this potential requires addressing challenges related to the size, complexity, and cost of current optical systems used for NV center manipulation. In this work, we present a compact and portable confocal setup specifically designed for the efficient detection and control of single NV centers. Our system facilitates optical initialization and readout of individual NV center photoluminescence signals, enabling coherent spin control and nanoscale-resolution magnetic field sensing.