Raman heterodyne detected magnetic resonance .1. CW and coherent transient measurements

We report cw and coherent transient studies on electronic and nuclear magnetic transitions of the nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond using an optical-rf double resonance technique: Raman heterodyne detection. Emphasis is placed on the coherent transient measurements to illustrate the versatility of the detection technique, which is not only very sensitive but is also ideal in this case since it is based on a coherent process. In this paper we show that Raman heterodyne detection can be used to obtain a wide range of signals including nutation, spin echo, rotary echo and spin locking in a single system. Finally an example of using coherent transients to test the validity of the Bloch equation is given.