Noise Suppression via Pulsed All-Optical Magnetometry with Nitrogen-Vacancy Ensembles

Abstract

All-optical (AO) microwave-free magnetometry using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond simplifies experimental design and broadens sample compatibility. While continuous-wave (cw) detection of AO photoluminescence (PL) changes is commonly employed, its performance is susceptible to systematic fluctuations such as optical intensity noise. To address these challenges, we introduce a pulsed AO protocol that employs two PL measurements within an optical pulse to suppress common-mode noise. At near-zero magnetic field, we experimentally demonstrate that the pulsed AO protocol resolves AO-PL contrast features arising from NV-NV cross-relaxation, achieving up to 10$\times$ improvement in the low-frequency noise floor compared to conventional cw AO techniques. We further investigate the dependence of AO-PL contrast on PL readout timing and the dark time duration $τ$ between optical pulses, with the optimal $τ$ varying based on NV concentrations. These findings provide insights into optimizing NV-diamond samples for effective AO operation across diverse applications.