Magnetic measurements on micrometer-sized samples under high pressure using designed NV centers

Abstract

Pressure can be used to tune the interplay among structural, electronic, and magnetic interactions in materials. High pressures are usually applied in the diamond anvil cell, making it difficult to study the magnetic properties of a micrometer-sized sample. We report a method for spatially resolved optical magnetometry based on imaging a layer of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers created at the surface of a diamond anvil. We illustrate the method using two sets of measurements realized at room temperature and low temperature, respectively: the pressure evolution of the magnetization of an iron bead up to 30 gigapascals showing the iron ferromagnetic collapse and the detection of the superconducting transition of magnesium dibromide at 7 gigapascals.