Hybrid sensors based on colour centres in diamond and piezoactive layers
Jianming Cai, Fedor Jelezko & Martin B. Plenio, Nature Communications 5, Article number: 4065 (2014)
The ability to measure weak signals such as pressure, force, electric field and temperature with nanoscale devices and high spatial resolution offers a wide range of applications in fundamental and applied sciences. Here we present a proposal for a hybrid device composed of thin film layers of diamond with colour centres and piezoactive elements for the transduction and measurement of physical signals. The magnetic response of a piezomagnetic layer to an external stress or a stress induced by a signal is shown to affect significantly the spin properties of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond. Under ambient conditions, realistic environmental noise and material imperfections, we show that this hybrid device can achieve significant improvements in sensitivity over the pure diamond-based approach in combination with nanometre-scale spatial resolution. Furthermore, the proposed hybrid architecture offers novel possibilities for engineering strong coherent couplings between nanomechanical oscillator and solid state spin qubits.