Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond can be used for nanoscale sensing with atomic resolution and sensitivity; however, it has been observed that their properties degrade as they approach the diamond surface. Here we report that in addition to degraded spin coherence, NV centers within nanometers of the surface can also exhibit decreased fluorescence contrast for optically detected electron spin resonance (OD-ESR). We demonstrate that this decreased OD-ESR contrast arises from charge state dynamics of the NV center, and that it is strongly surface-dependent, indicating that surface engineering will be critical for nanoscale sensing applications based on color centers in diamond.

• Received 3 May 2020
• Revised 1 July 2020
• Accepted 3 August 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033263

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Published by the American Physical Society