Precise temperature sensing with nanoscale thermal sensors based on diamond NV centers

Sensing temperature with high precision and high spatial resolution is challenging and requires novel temperature measurement techniques. Recently, an atomic-scale thermal sensor based on a defect center in diamond, i.e., a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center, has been developed, and successfully demonstrated temperature sensing at the mK level and a few tens of nanometers. Here we discuss a temperature sensing mechanism based on the NV center in both experimental and theoretical aspects. At room temperature, we show temperature sensing over a wide-range of temperatures ∼90 K with a precision of 0.2 K. We also map temperature gradients in a bridge-like device a few hundreds of micrometers long. In addition, we theoretically compare three sensing protocols and analyze temperature sensitivity to find optimal measurement time and NV concentration for the ensemble measurement.