The ${\mathrm{NV}}^{-}$ color center in diamond has been demonstrated as a nanoscale sensor for quantum metrology. However, the properties that make it ideal for measuring, e.g., minute electric and magnetic fields, also make it sensitive to imperfections in the diamond host. In this work, we quantify the impact of nearby native defects on the many-body states of ${\mathrm{NV}}^{-}$. We combine previous quantum embedding results of strain and electric-field susceptibilities of ${\mathrm{NV}}^{-}$ with density functional theory calculations on native defects. The latter are used to parametrize continuum models in order to extrapolate the effects of native defects up to the micrometer scale. We show that under ideal measuring conditions, the optical properties of ${\mathrm{NV}}^{-}$ are measurably affected by the strain caused by single carbon interstitials and vacancies up to 200 nm away; further, the ${\mathrm{NV}}^{-}$ is measurably affected by the electric field of such charged (neutral) native defects within a micron (100 nm). Finally, we show how measuring multiple individual ${\mathrm{NV}}^{-}$ centers in the vicinity of a native defect can be used to determine the nature of the defect and its charge state.

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• Color centers
• Electric field effects
• First-principles calculations
• NV centers
• Point defects
• Strain
• Nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond