An efficient fluorescent single-particle position tracking system for long-term pulsed measurements of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

摘要

A simple and convenient design enables real-time three-dimensional positiontracking of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The system consistsentirely of commercially available components (a single photon counter, ahigh-speed digital-to-analog converter, a phase-sensitive detector-basedfeedback device, and a piezo stage), eliminating the need for customprogramming or rigorous optimization processes. With a large input range ofcounters and trackers combined with the high sensitivity of single-photoncounting, high-speed position tracking (upper bound recovery time of 0.9 s upon250 nm of step-like positional shift) not only of bright ensembles but also oflow-photon-collection-efficiency single to few NV centers is possible. Thetracking requires position modulation of only 10 nm, which allows simultaneousposition tracking and pulsed measurements in the long term. Therefore, thistracking system enables measuring a single spin magnetic resonance and Rabioscillations at a very high resolution even without photon collectionoptimization. The system is widely applicable to various fields related to NVcenters quantum manipulation research such as NV optical trapping, NV trackingin fluid dynamics, and biological sensing using NV centers inside a biologicalcell.