Optimized microwave sensing in broad frequency range by a fiber diamond probe

Abstract

Diamond based quantum sensing is a fast-emerging field with both scientific and technological importance. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center, a crystal defect in diamond, is a unique model system for microwave sensing application due to its excellent photo-stability, long spin coherence time in ambient conditions. In this work, we systematically optimized the measurement parameters for microwave sensing. The system noise is analyzed, and 1/f noise is suppressed by introducing a differential algorithm. The gain of avalanche photodiode and the gating window of the pulsed fluorescence is optimized to further suppress the noise floor. The decoherence of spin is characterized by varying the duration of the laser and microwave. The minimal detectable power on a standard microstrip is characterized with sampling time down to 1 ms, showing flat frequency dependence. The results have important implications toward fast measurement of broadband microwave power, especially in the field of IC testing and radar signal processing under intense electromagnetic interference.