Physically motivated analytical expression for the temperature dependence of the zero-field splitting of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

Abstract

The zero-field splitting (ZFS) of the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond's ground-state electronic spin is temperature dependent, enabling nanoscale thermometry with NV centers. Here, the authors propose a simple, analytical expression that captures the measured ZFS over a wide range of temperatures. The authors explain the physical motivations for this expression and suggest that similar expressions may apply to other properties of the NV center, as well as to other solid-state spin systems.