Trofimov, S.; Lips, K.; Naydenov, B.: Voltage detected single spin dynamics in diamond at ambient conditions. Nature Communications 16 (2025), p. 3518/1-7
10.1038/s41467-025-58635-3
Open Accesn Version
Abstract:
Defect centres in crystals like diamond or silicon find a wide application in quantumtechnology, where the detection and control of their quantum states is crucial for theirimplementation as quantum sensors and qubits. The quantum informationis usuallyencoded in the spin state of these defect centres, but they also often possess a chargewhich is typically not utilized. We report here the detection of elementary chargesbound to single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres several nanometres belowthe diamondsurface using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) under laser illumination. More-over, the measured voltage depends on the NV’s electron spin state, thus allowing toperform a non-optical single spin readout, a technique we refer to as “Voltage DetectedMagnetic Resonance” (VDMR). Our method opens a novel way of coherent spin dy-namics detection for quantum sensing applications and could be appliedto other solidstate systems. We believe that this voltage-based readout would help to simplify thedesign of devices for quantum technology.