Spin readout via spin-to-charge conversion in bulk diamond nitrogen-vacancy ensembles

We demonstrate the optical readout of ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spins in a bulk diamond sample via spin-to-charge conversion. A high power 594 nm laser is utilized to selectively ionize these paramagnetic defects in the mS=0 spin state with a contrast of up to 12%. In comparison to the conventional 520 nm spin readout, the spin-to-charge-conversion-based readout provides a higher signal-to-noise ratio, with tenfold sensing measurement speedup for millisecond long pulse sequences. This level of performance was achieved for an NV^- ionization of only 25%, limited by the ionization and readout laser powers. These observations pave the way to a range of high-sensitivity metrology applications where the use of NV^- ensembles in bulk diamond has proven useful, including sensing and imaging of target materials overlaid on the diamond surface.