Homogeneous microwave delivery for quantum sensing with nitrogen-vacancy centers at high pressures
Timothy A Elmslie1, Luca Basso2, Adam Dodson2
1Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA.
The Review of Scientific Instruments
|July 27, 2026
Summary
Nitrogen vacancy centers are useful in high-pressure studies. A novel slotted design improves microwave delivery to these centers within diamond anvil cells, enhancing high-pressure measurements.
Area of Science:
- Quantum sensing
- Materials science under extreme conditions
- Condensed matter physics
Background:
- Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are sensitive quantum probes.
- Diamond anvil cells (DACs) enable high-pressure research but pose challenges for NV center applications.
- Effective delivery of microwave fields to NV centers within DACs is crucial for measurements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and characterize a novel microwave transmission line for NV centers in a DAC.
- To overcome geometric limitations of DACs for improved microwave field delivery.
- To enable precise magnetic resonance measurements of NV centers at high pressures.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a novel slotted microwave transmission line integrated into a DAC.
- Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) measurements in both zero-field and in-field configurations.
- Characterization of microwave field strength across the diamond culet using Rabi frequency measurements at pressures up to 48 GPa.
Main Results:
- The novel slotted design facilitates efficient microwave field delivery to NV centers within the DAC.
- Rabi frequency measurements confirmed the presence and strength of microwave fields across the diamond culet.
- Successful ODMR measurements were performed across a pressure range of 1 to 48 GPa, demonstrating the system's functionality.
Conclusions:
- The developed slotted microwave transmission line effectively addresses the challenges of NV center manipulation in DACs.
- This advancement enables more robust and precise quantum sensing applications under extreme high-pressure conditions.
- The findings pave the way for new discoveries in materials science and condensed matter physics using NV centers at high pressures.
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