Complete determination of the orientation of NV centers with radially polarized beams

In this paper, we report on the precise determination of the orientation of NV centers by imaging with a radially polarized beam. Vectorial Debye theory is applied to the field in the focus of radially polarized beams to generate emission profiles of two orthogonal optical dipoles. By comparing features of the measured emission intensity patterns with simulated results, complete orientation determination of the NV axis is achieved. Results are corroborated by using established methods requiring the polarization rotation of a linearly polarized excitation source, and by analysis of optically detected magnetic resonance spectra. These results lay new ground for any application where the knowledge of the orientation of the NV centers is prerequisite.