Quantitative luminescence microscopy on Nitrogen-Vacancy Centres in diamond: Saturation effects under pulsed excitation

►Using pulsed laser excitation, we measure the luminescence of the Nitrogen Vacancy Centre (NVC). ► Pulsed excitation allows us to easily calculate the NVC's absorption cross-section. ► We find that the NVC's absorption cross-section is 0.95±0.25×10-16cm2. ► We use the pulse-excitation method to estimate the number of NVCs in a crystal.