Exploiting bistable pinning of a ferromagnetic vortex for nitrogen-vacancy spin control

The strong, localized magnetic field produced by the core of a ferromagnetic vortex provides a platform for addressing and controlling individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spins in diamond. Translation of a vortex state in a thin ferromagnetic disk or wire can be understood as motion through an effective pinning potential, arising from the defects in the material. Coupling an NV spin to a vortex state in a proximal ferromagnet imprints the pinning landscape onto the spin transitions. Quantitative characterization of the pinning potential is necessary to control the spin-vortex system. First, we map the effective pinning potential by raster scanning the vortex core through a permalloy disk and measuring the hysteretic vortex displacement vs. magnetic field using differential magneto-optical microscopy. Second, we demonstrate that the interaction between the vortex and a nearby NV spin can be characterized using the pinning map and the path taken by the vortex core through the landscape. Finally, we identify locations of bistability in the pinning landscape, and use them to manipulate the nitrogen vacancy spin in a controlled bimodal fashion by switching the spin on and off resonance with a driving field on a similar to 10 ns timescale at room temperature. Published by AIP Publishing.