Fabrication of an Assembled Scanning Probe with Nitrogen Vacancy Centers in Diamond Particle

Nitrogen vacancy (NV^-) centers possess exceptional sensitivity to magnetic field even under ambient condition. The optically detectable electron spins and the atomic size make it a promising candidate for the advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique with nanoscale spatial resolution. In this work, we report on a novel method of seeking diamond particles with NV^- centers quickly and precisely and fabrication of a silicon scanning probe with NV^- centers in diamond as a magnetic sensor. The diamond particles with NV^- centers, deposited by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition under gaseous N₂ dopant deliberately, were fixed on the fabricated scanning probe as a magnetic sensor. The silicon scanning probe was fabricated using microfabrication technologies. While the existence of NV^- center in diamond particle was determined by Raman spectroscopy, the photoluminescence intensity at 2.87 GHz microwave frequency was decreased by an optically detected magnetic resonance system. It implies that the NV^- spin state can be manipulated and read out using optical excitation.