Optical and spin properties of nitrogen vacancy centers in bulk and nanocrystalline diamond

The NV center is becoming a very hot topic in many areas of science, including, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Quantum Information. The Degen group has focused on a specific application of the NV center, namely scanning magnetometry. In my time in the group, I focused on building a microscope and studying NV centers in bulk and nanocrystalline diamond. I began by building a confocal microscope which was capable of observing and determine single NV centers. I made measurements on the photon statistics of different defects to determine if they were single emitters or multiple emitters. I also made microwave frequency magnetic measurements to determine the spin properties of single NV centers by measuring their couplings to neighboring paramagnetic nuclei as well as to a spin bath. Through these efforts, I was able to successfully confirm that the microscope was capable of identifying and measuring single NV centers and their properties. Lastly, I worked on the first steps of improving our understanding of NV centers in bulk diamond crystals. The goal of magnetometry involves putting the NV center as close to the diamond surface as possible. I made measurements that were aimed at studying the spin and coherence properties of the NV when it was within 10 nm of the diamond surface. These studies provided insight into the interactions of the NV center with the diamond surface.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Ofori-Okai, Benjamin Kwasi

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Christian L. Degen.

• Chemistry.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79273

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/79273