All-optical control of a single electron spin in diamond

Abstract

Precise coherent control of the individual electronic spins associated with atom-like impurities in the solid state is essential for applications in quantum information processing and quantum metrology. We demonstrate all-optical initialization, fast coherent manipulation, and readout of the electronic spin of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV − ) center in diamond at T∼7K. We then present the observation of a novel double-dark resonance in the spectroscopy of an individual NV center. These techniques open the door for new applications ranging from robust manipulation of spin states using geometric quantum gates to quantum sensing and information processing. PACS numbers:The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV − ) center in diamond is an atom-like impurity in the solid state that combines a long lived spin-triplet ground state with coherent optical transitions. A number of recent experiments and novel applications have been enabled by the use of a combination of visible frequency lasers to address the electronic states and microwave manipulation to address the spin degree of freedom [1][2][3][4][5]. While techniques for microwave spin manipulation of NV centers are well established, a number of new potential applications could be enabled by controlling the ground state spin sublevels using optical Raman transitions as is done with isolated neutral atoms and ions. For example, the use of multiple Raman transitions between four-level tripod systems was proposed for realization of robust geometrical quantum gates [6,7]. In addition, optical manipulation offers possibilities for improving NV-based metrology applications, for example by providing access to forbidden transitions between spin sublevels that are more sensitive to magnetic fields [8,9]. Moreover, all-optical manipulation techniques are important for the development of integrated nanophotonic systems for diamond-based scalable quantum optical devices and quantum networks [10][11][12]. In these devices, microwave structures on the diamond substrate are often incompatible with the fabrication process for the nanophotonic devices, while the use of external microwave source defeat the scalability of on-chip photonic devices. The complex level structure and selection rules of the NV center's optical transitions offer a rich and flexible set of possibilities for coherent all-optical control of all three spin sublevels. Past experiments have demonstrated optical spin manipulation under a large magnetic field or two-photon Rabi oscillations and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) on microsecond timescales [13][14][15].In this Letter, we demonstrate complete all-optical coherent manipulation of the NV spin states. Importantly, initialization and readout of the spin states are also performed all-optically, providing a full set of experimental techniques that eliminates the need for microwave addressing. In addition, we report the first observations of nearly degenerate dark states associated with a doubledark resonance in a single quantum emit...

Building Blocks for Quantum Network Based on Group‐IV Split‐Vacancy Centers in Diamond

“…Generally, coherent control of either an ensemble of quantum emitters or a single quantum system consists of three steps: initialization, manipulation, and readout. For many systems including semiconductor quantum dots and various defect centers in wide‐bandgap crystals, initialization and readout are usually combined into a single step by driving an optically active cycling transition resonantly or by utilizing the asymmetrical decay channels involved in intersystem crossing (ISC) to polarize the system. Coherent control of quantum state is often realized by invoking resonant driving (optical or microwave) of the transitions, or by employing stimulated Raman rapid adiabatic passage (STIRAP), a fast and robust technique immune to the loss induced by spontaneous decay and the dephasing caused by the small fluctuations in experimental conditions …”

Implementing a Two‐Photon Three‐Degrees‐of‐Freedom Hyper‐Parallel Controlled Phase Flip Gate Through Cavity‐Assisted Interactions

“…[ 97 ] The NV center in diamond has an ultra‐long coherence time (≈ms); [ 98 ] moreover, it could operate even at room temperature. [ 56,57 ] The initialization, [ 99 ] manipulation (≈subnanosecond), [ 100,101 ] and readout (100 s) [ 102,103 ] of the electronic spin in the NV center have been experimentally demonstrated. The interactions between the NV centers and the various optical microcavities including microspheres, [ 104 ] microdisks, [ 88 ] microrings, [ 105 ] microtoroidal resonators, [ 106 ] photonic crystals, [ 107 ] and fiber‐based microcavities [ 108 ] have been demonstrated in the realistic experiments.…”

Single-photon pulse induced giant response in N > 100 qubit system

“…The T 1 time (lifetime of the state e j i ¼ þ1 j i) of NV centers is few milliseconds at room temperature and even much longer at lower temperatures 30 . The Λ transition can be realized with the spin nonconserving transition 31 as shown in Supplementary Fig. 1 and Supplementary Note 2.…”