Spectrally Decomposing the spin-bath environment of an NV-center in Diamond

NV centers in diamonds have been proposed as candidates for quantum information processing and as magnetic field sensors. Furthermore, dynamical decoupling techniques have been demonstrated to improve the quantum coherence of these systems. Here we propose using the NVs as precise probes of their magnetic environment's full spectral density. Through a combination of applied pulse sequences and coherence measurements, a Fourier-like decomposition of the environment's temporal correlation function can be deduced. This technique could be useful for characterizing the dependence of the surrounding spin bath on density, external magnetic field, dimensionality and more. Also, this method could be useful in identifying surface magnetic impurities and as a chemical sensor. Finally, this approach could be extended to study the quantum many- body nature of the spin bath.