School of Physics - Theses

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    From geometric phases to intracellular sensing: new applications of the diamond nitrogen-vacancy centre
    MACLAURIN, DOUGAL ( 2010)
    This thesis consists of two parts, each of which proposes a new application of the diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre. We first consider the NV centre as a device to detect geometric phases. We show that the Aharonov-Casher phase and Berry’s phase may be produced in the NV centre’s spin sublevels and observed using existing experimental techniques. We give the background theory to geometric phases, then show how these phases apply to the NV system. Finally, we outline a number of realistic experiments to detect these phases. The second part considers the behaviour of an NV centre within a diamond nanocrystal which rotates, in a Brownian sense, in a fluid. Our aim is to understand the effect of rotational motion on the initialisation, evolution and readout of an NV centre, motivated by the idea of using colloidal nanodiamonds for biological imaging. We first develop a model to describe the quantum evolution of a rotationally diffusing nanocrystal. The model uses theory developed in NV magnetometry and also the geometric phase theory developed in the first part of this thesis. We then explore the consequences of this model for nanoscale sensing. We show that the tumbling NV system may be used as a sensitive magnetometer with nanoscale resolution and also as a probe of its own rotational motion.