Depth-dependent decoherence caused by surface and external spins for NV centers in diamond

Abstract

By efficient nanoscale plasma etching, the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond were brought to the sample surface step by step successfully. At each depth, we measured the ratios of spin coherence times before and after applying external spins on the surface, which reflected the contribution of external spins to the decoherence, and then investigated the relationships between depth and ratios. The values of ratios declined and then rose with the decreasing depth, which was attributed to the decoherence influenced by external spins, surface spins, discrete surface spin effects, and electric field noise. Moreover, our work experimentally and theoretically revealed a characteristic depth at which the NV center would experience relatively the strongest decoherence caused by external spins in consideration of inevitable surface spins. And the characteristic depth was found depending on the local environments of NV centers and the density of surface spins.