We present an experimental study of the longitudinal electron-spin relaxation of ensembles of negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV−) centers in diamond. The measurements were performed with samples having different NV− concentrations and at different temperatures and magnetic fields. We found that the relaxation rate $T_{1}^{-1}$ increases when transition frequencies in NV− centers with different orientations become degenerate and interpret this as cross-relaxation caused by dipole-dipole interaction.

Negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV${}^{-}$) centers in diamond have generated much recent interest for their use in sensing. The sensitivity improves when the NV ground-state microwave transitions are narrow, but these transitions suffer from inhomogeneous broadening, especially in high-density NV ensembles. To better understand and remove the sources of broadening, we demonstrate room-temperature spectral “hole burning” of the NV ground-state transitions. We find that hole burning removes the broadening caused by magnetic fields from ${}^{13}$C nuclei and demonstrate that it can be used for magnetic-field-insensitive thermometry.

The ability to create time-dependent magnetic fields of controlled polarization is essential for many experiments with magnetic resonance. We describe a microstrip circuit that allows us to generate strong magnetic field at microwave frequencies with arbitrary adjusted polarization. The circuit performance is demonstrated by applying it to an optically detected magnetic resonance and Rabi nutation experiments in nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond. Thanks to high efficiency of the proposed microstrip circuit and degree of circular polarization of 85%; it is possible to address the specific spin states of a diamond sample using a low power microwave generator. The circuit may be applied to a wide range of magnetic resonance experiments with a well-controlled polarization of microwaves.

We present results of our research on two-field (two-frequency) microwave spectroscopy in nitrogen-vacancy ($\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{V}}^{-}$) color centers in a diamond. Both fields are tuned to transitions between the spin sublevels of the $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{V}}^{-}$ ensemble in the ${}^3{A}_2$ ground state (one field has a fixed frequency while the second one is scanned). Particular attention is focused on the case where two microwave fields drive the same transition between two $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{V}}^{-}$ ground state sublevels ($m_{\mathrm{s}}=0\leftrightarrow m_{\mathrm{s}}=+1$). In this case, the observed spectra exhibit a complex narrow structure composed of three Lorentzian resonances positioned at the pump-field frequency. The resonance widths and amplitudes depend on the lifetimes of the levels involved in the transition. We attribute the spectra to coherent population oscillations induced by the two nearly degenerate microwave fields, which we have also observed in real time. The observations agree well with a theoretical model and can be useful for investigation of the NV relaxation mechanisms.

Nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond are a very promising medium for many sensing applications such as magnetometry and thermometry. In this work, we study nanodiamonds deposited from a suspension onto glass substrates. Fluorescence and optically detected magnetic resonance spectra recorded with the dried-out nanodiamond ensembles are presented and a suitable scheme for tracking the magnetic-field value using a continuous poly-crystalline spectrum is introduced. Lastly, we demonstrate a remote-sensing capability of the high-numerical-aperture imaging fiber bundle with nanodiamonds deposited on its end facet.