High precision electric field sensing with spin ensembles in diamond

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are applied as quantum sensors predominently for magnetometry but also for thermometry, piezometry and electrometry. While single NV sensors exhibit nanometer scale spatial resolution in field imaging, the measurement with a NV ensemble allows for precision measurements on the micron scale. In this fashion, single NV centers can perform magnetic resonance imaging of nanoscale structures and NV ensembles reach a magnetic field sensitivity of < 1 pT/Hz^1/2 [1]. Less known is the NV's ability to detect fundamental charges [2,3]. Here, we demonstrate precision measurements of electric fields with NV ensembles. Despite the small susceptibility of the NV center's spin to electric fields, high precision is achieved due to efficient noise cancelation and the long coherence time of NV centers, even at room temperature. This raises the prospect of NV-diamond application for quantum-based, micron-scale electrometers.
[1] T. Wolf et al., PRX 5, 041001 (2015) [2] M. Doherty, NJP 16, 063067 (2014). [3] F. Dolde et al., PRL 112, 097603 (2014).