Quantum sensing of radio-frequency signal with NV centers in SiC

Abstract

Silicon carbide is an emerging platform for quantum technologies that provides wafer scale and low-cost industrial fabrication. The material also hosts high-quality defects with long coherence times that can be used for quantum computation and sensing applications. Using an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers and an XY8-2 correlation spectroscopy approach, we demonstrate a room-temperature quantum sensing of an artificial AC field centered at ~900 kHz with a spectral resolution of 10 kHz. Implementing the synchronized readout technique, we further extend the frequency resolution of our sensor to 0.01 kHz. These results pave the first steps for silicon carbide quantum sensors toward low-cost nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers with a wide range of practical applications in medical, chemical, and biological analysis.

Quantum systems in silicon carbide for sensing applications

“…By using a synchronized readout technique, RF detection could be achieved with a frequency resolution of 0.01 kHz. This can pave the way for low-cost NMR spectrometers with SiC [37].…”

“…This extends the T 2 time of the spin system by decoupling it from the environmental magnetic spin noise and increases the sensing interval of the AC magnetic field. A XY8-N sequence has been applied to N C V Si in SiC [37], demonstrating an enhancement of the decoherence time scaling as (8 × N) 0.46±0.003 (figure 4(d)). Due to such an extension of the T 2 coherence time, XY8-2 correlation spectroscopy has been applied to the N C V Si in 4H-SiC demonstrating a room-temperature quantum sensing of an artificial AC magnetic field centred at 900 kHz with a spectral resolution of 10 kHz.…”

“…In section 5, we will discuss the application of SiC colour centres in magnetic field sensing [13,23,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], temperature sensing [18,26,[38][39][40], electric field sensing [41][42][43][44].…”

DC Magnetic Field Sensitivity Optimization of Spin Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride

“…Spin defects found in wide-gap materials are promising candidates for quantum technologies, such as the well-known nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond − and spin defects in silicon carbide. − To realize the efficient quantum sensing, it is necessary to bring the spin-based sensors as close as possible to the sample, which leads to some technical challenges in practice, for example, the preparation of shallow sensors − or the fabrication of nanostructures. − Recently discovered spin defects in 2D materials provide a promising option for this task thanks to their natural advantages.…”

First-Principles Investigation of Near-Surface Divacancies in Silicon Carbide

“…Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising platform for quantum technologies. − Specifically, several point defects have been predicted and demonstrated to yield a solid-state quantum coherent material with singly addressable spin states. − For example, the neutral divacancy in SiC (composed of a silicon vacancy and an adjacent carbon vacancy and hereafter referred to as VV) exhibits many of the advantages of the NV center in diamond, , including a triplet ground state, but has the added benefit of a technologically mature host material. Additional functionalities may be engineered, e.g., by nanostructuring − and by interfacing and integrating SiC with other materials.…”