289 research outputs found
Detection and control of individual nuclear spins using a weakly coupled electron spin
We experimentally isolate, characterize and coherently control up to six
individual nuclear spins that are weakly coupled to an electron spin in
diamond. Our method employs multi-pulse sequences on the electron spin that
resonantly amplify the interaction with a selected nuclear spin and at the same
time dynamically suppress decoherence caused by the rest of the spin bath. We
are able to address nuclear spins with interaction strengths that are an order
of magnitude smaller than the electron spin dephasing rate. Our results provide
a route towards tomography with single-nuclear-spin sensitivity and greatly
extend the number of available quantum bits for quantum information processing
in diamond
Nanopositioning of a diamond nanocrystal containing a single NV defect center
Precise control over the position of a single quantum object is important for
many experiments in quantum science and nanotechnology. We report on a
technique for high-accuracy positioning of individual diamond nanocrystals. The
positioning is done with a home-built nanomanipulator under real-time scanning
electron imaging, yielding an accuracy of a few nanometers. This technique is
applied to pick up, move and position a single NV defect center contained in a
diamond nanocrystal. We verify that the unique optical and spin properties of
the NV center are conserved by the positioning process.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures; high-resolution version available at
http://www.ns.tudelft.nl/q
Spin dynamics in the optical cycle of single nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond
We investigate spin-dependent decay and intersystem crossing in the optical
cycle of single negatively-charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in diamond. We
use spin control and pulsed optical excitation to extract both the
spin-resolved lifetimes of the excited states and the degree of
optically-induced spin polarization. By optically exciting the centre with a
series of picosecond pulses, we determine the spin-flip probabilities per
optical cycle, as well as the spin-dependent probability for intersystem
crossing. This information, together with the indepedently measured decay rate
of singlet population provides a full description of spin dynamics in the
optical cycle of NV centres. The temperature dependence of the singlet
population decay rate provides information on the number of singlet states
involved in the optical cycle.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Deterministic nano-assembly of a coupled quantum emitter - photonic crystal cavity system
The interaction of a single quantum emitter with its environment is a central
theme in quantum optics. When placed in highly confined optical fields, such as
those created in optical cavities or plasmonic structures, the optical
properties of the emitter can change drastically. In particular, photonic
crystal (PC) cavities show high quality factors combined with an extremely
small mode volume. Efficiently coupling a single quantum emitter to a PC cavity
is challenging because of the required positioning accuracy. Here, we
demonstrate deterministic coupling of single Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers to
high-quality gallium phosphide PC cavities, by deterministically positioning
their 50 nm-sized host nanocrystals into the cavity mode maximum with
few-nanometer accuracy. The coupling results in a 25-fold enhancement of NV
center emission at the cavity wavelength. With this technique, the NV center
photoluminescence spectrum can be reshaped allowing for efficient generation of
coherent photons, providing new opportunities for quantum science.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
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