Diamond magnetometry and gradiometry towards subpicotesla DC field measurement

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have developed into a powerful solid-state platform for compact quantum sensors. However, high sensitivity measurements usually come with additional constraints on the pumping intensity of the laser and the pulse control applied. Here, we demonstrate high sensitivity NV ensemble based magnetic field measurements with low-intensity optical excitation. DC magnetometry methods like, e.g., continuous-wave optically detected magnetic resonance and continuously excited Ramsey measurements combined with lock-in detection, are compared to get an optimization. Gradiometry is also investigated as a step towards unshielded measurements of unknown gradients. The magnetometer demonstrates a minimum detectable field of 0.3-0.7 pT in a 73 s measurement by further applying a flux guide with a sensing dimension of 2 mm, corresponding to a magnetic field sensitivity of 2.6-6 pT/Hz^0.5. Combined with our previous efforts on the diamond AC magnetometry, the diamond magnetometer is promising to perform wide bandwidth magnetometry with picotesla sensitivity and a cubic-millimeter sensing volume under ambient conditions.