Spatially Resolved Charge Dynamics in Diamond and Super-Resolution Microscopy with Airy Disks

Quantum technologies based on color centers in diamond are promising for numerous applications but face many outstanding challenges and open questions. For example, controlling the charge state of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers is critical to utilizing them in applications ranging from sensing to quantum repeaters. However, little is known about charge transport and the dynamics of charged defect in diamond. We introduce a novel experimental technique to probe charge diffusion in diamond using single-shot charge state readout of an isolated NV center. By spatially mapping the change in the NV charge state, we study charge release, transport, and capture processes of surrounding defects and identify the dark state of silicon vacancy (SiV) centers under laser illumination as SiV^2-. Furthermore, we demonstrate that spatial resolutions far below the diffraction limit can be achieved by exploiting the Airy pattern formed by diffraction through the objective lens aperture. This new super-resolution technique can be used to localize and manipulate color centers individually, even when they are spatially separated by less than the diffraction limit. The primary advantage of this technique is that it can be employed in a standard confocal microscope without requiring any specialized optics or physical modifications. Part of this work was performed under the auspices of US DOE by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344