High-Precision Wideband Microwave Detection with Ensemble of Nitrogen-Vacancy Color Centers

High-precision detection of microwave field information is important in the fields of space wireless communication, space microwave remote sensing, and satellite navigation. In this paper, the high-precision detection of broadband microwave is realized. High-precision detection of microwave fields has been realized for the first time based on the spin-mixing model of nitrogen-vacancy color centers and the continuous wave optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) process. By changing the power ratio between the signal and reference microwave fields, the validity of high-precision detection of microwaves is verified, and the microwave magnetic field detection resolution is less than 100 nW and the Pearson correlation coefficient of the system’s response to microwave intensity is 0.9974. Then, by optimizing the data acquisition time, the megahertz-level frequency resolution of the signal microwave is achieved. In addition, the gigahertz bandwidth and megahertz resolution were also verified by tuning the resonance frequency of the spin energy level to an external static magnetic field. These results provide an important technological basis for solid-state microwave receivers based on nitrogen-vacancy color centers, high-precision spectral resolution detection, and microwave sensing.