Vector magnetic field sensing by a single nitrogen vacancy center in diamond

In this letter, researchers proposed and experimentally demonstrated a method to detect the vector magnetic field with a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond. The magnetic field in parallel with the axis of the NV center can be obtained by detecting the electron Zeeman shift, while the Larmor precession of an ancillary nuclear spin close to the NV center can be used to measure the field perpendicular to the axis. Experimentally, both the Zeeman shift and Larmor precession can be measured through the fluorescence from the NV center. By applying additional calibrated magnetic fields, complete information on the vector magnetic field can be achieved with such a method. This vector magnetic-field detection method is insensitive to temperature fluctuation and it can be applied to nanoscale magnetic measurements.