Controlled Surface Modification to Revive Shallow NV^– Centers

Abstract

Near-surface negatively charged nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers hold excellent promise for nanoscale magnetic imaging and quantum sensing. However, they often experience charge-state instabilities, leading to strongly reduced fluorescence and NV coherence time, which negatively impact magnetic imaging sensitivity. This occurs even more severely at 4 K and ultrahigh vacuum (UHV, <i>p</i> = 2 × 10^-10 mbar). We demonstrate that <i>in situ</i> adsorption of H₂O on the diamond surface allows the partial recovery of the shallow NV sensors. Combining these with band-bending calculations, we conclude that controlled surface treatments are essential for implementing NV-based quantum sensing protocols under cryogenic UHV conditions.