Single nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for spin quantum control

The thesis focuses on one of the most promising experimental platforms for quantum technologies: Single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. This quantum system is composed by the spins of the valence electrons of the crystalline point defects and their nearby nuclei. Quite generally, a fundamental requirement to exploit the potentialities of the quantum nature of a system is its precise control. However, this always involves new challenges, related to the need to protect the quantum system from the environment (i.e. preserving the quantum nature of the system itself) and the desire to develop measurement protocols that can enhance its performance for quantum applications. Therefore, I focused my Ph.D. work to find novel solutions to these challenges.