Strain-Induced Detuning of a Dressed Nitrogen-Vacancy Qubit: Effective Two-Level Theory and Its Validity

Abstract

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond can be operated as a microwave-dressed qubit. In the ideal two-level limit, its transition frequency is first-order insensitive to static magnetic fields, providing robustness against magnetic detuning noise. In practical diamond devices, however, residual transverse crystal strain mixes the $\ket{m_{s}=\pm1}$ spin sublevels and modifies the dressed qubit. In this study, we derive an analytical effective two-level model of a strained dressed NV qubit by perturbatively eliminating the far-detuned spectator state from the full three-level dressed Hamiltonian. We obtain closed-form expressions for the dressed-state splitting, the spin-locking mixing angle, and the longitudinal magnetic-field coupling. We show that transverse strain shifts the dressed-state resonance and tilts the spin-locking axis. These two effects restore a finite DC-field response and thereby quantify the loss of magnetic robustness. We demonstrate these features in simulated pulsed electron spin resonance spectra that incorporate rate-equation-based optical readout. We further derive exact validity criteria from the eigenvalues and spectator weights of the full three-level Hamiltonian. For practical use, we reduce these criteria to two controlled guidelines: the spectator-like branch must remain above the nominal upper dressed state, and its branch-specific admixture must remain small. A validity diagram over the axial-field--transverse-strain plane summarizes these approximate conditions and provides practical guidelines for designing dressed-NV sensing experiments.