Diamond-on-chip magnetic field camera for mobile imaging

Integrated and fiber-packaged magnetic field sensors with a sensitivity sufficient to sense electric pulses propagating along nerves and a spatial resolution fine enough to resolve their propagation directions will trigger tremendous steps ahead in medical diagnostics and research. Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond are best suitable for such sensing tasks under ambient conditions. Current research on uniting a good sensitivity and high spatial resolution is facilitated by scanning or imaging techniques. However, these techniques employ moving parts or bulky microscopes. Both approaches cannot be miniaturized to build robust, adjustment-free, hand-held devices. In this work, we introduce concepts for spatially resolved magnetic field sensing and two-dimensional gradiometry with an integrated magnetic field camera. The camera utilizes infrared absorption optically detected magnetic resonance (IRA ODMR) mediated by perpendicularly intersecting infrared and pump laser beams forming a pixel matrix. We demonstrate our scalable 3×3 pixel sensor’s capability to reconstruct the position of an electromagnet. In a reference measurement, we show an IRA ODMR sensitivity of 44nTHz−1/2.