677 research outputs found
Electron spin decoherence of single Nitrogen-Vacancy defects in diamond
We present a theoretical analysis of the electron spin decoherence in single
Nitrogen-Vacancy defects in ultra-pure diamond. The electron spin decoherence
is due to the interactions with Carbon-13 nuclear spins in the diamond lattice.
Our approach takes advantage of the low concentration (1.1%) of Carbon-13 and
their random distribution in the diamond lattice by an algorithmic aggregation
of spins into small, strongly interacting groups. By making use of this
\emph{disjoint cluster} approach, we demonstrate a possibility of non-trival
dynamics of the electron spin that can not be described by a single time
constant. This dependance is caused by a strong coupling between the electron
and few nuclei and results, in particular, in a substantial echo signal even at
microsecond time scales. Our results are in good agreement with recent
experimental observations
Coherent Population Trapping with a controlled dissipation: applications in optical metrology
We analyze the properties of a pulsed Coherent Population Trapping protocol
that uses a controlled decay from the excited state in a -level
scheme. We study this problem analytically and numerically and find regimes
where narrow transmission, absorption, or fluorescence spectral lines occur. We
then look for optimal frequency measurements using these spectral features by
computing the Allan deviation in the presence of ground state decoherence and
show that the protocol is on a par with Ramsey-CPT. We discuss possible
implementations with ensembles of alkali atoms and single ions and demonstrate
that typical pulsed-CPT experiments that are realized on femto-second
time-scales can be implemented on micro-seconds time-scales using this scheme.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Efficient single photon emission from a high-purity hexagonal boron nitride crystal
Among a variety of layered materials used as building blocks in van der Waals
heterostructures, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) appears as an ideal platform
for hosting optically-active defects owing to its large bandgap ( eV).
Here we study the optical response of a high-purity hBN crystal under green
laser illumination. By means of photon correlation measurements, we identify
individual defects emitting a highly photostable fluorescence under ambient
conditions. A detailed analysis of the photophysical properties reveals a high
quantum efficiency of the radiative transition, leading to a single photon
source with very high brightness. These results illustrate how the wide range
of applications offered by hBN could be further extended to photonic-based
quantum information science and metrology.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
High resolution spectroscopy of single NV defects coupled with nearby C nuclear spins in diamond
We report a systematic study of the hyperfine interaction between the
electron spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect in diamond and nearby
C nuclear spins, by using pulsed electron spin resonance spectroscopy.
We isolate a set of discrete values of the hyperfine coupling strength ranging
from 14 MHz to 400 kHz and corresponding to C nuclear spins placed at
different lattice sites of the diamond matrix. For each lattice site, the
hyperfine interaction is further investigated through nuclear spin polarization
measurements and by studying the magnetic field dependence of the hyperfine
splitting. This work provides informations that are relevant for the
development of nuclear-spin based quantum register in diamond.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Strong magnetic coupling between an electronic spin qubit and a mechanical resonator
We describe a technique that enables a strong, coherent coupling between a
single electronic spin qubit associated with a nitrogen-vacancy impurity in
diamond and the quantized motion of a magnetized nano-mechanical resonator tip.
This coupling is achieved via careful preparation of dressed spin states which
are highly sensitive to the motion of the resonator but insensitive to
perturbations from the nuclear spin bath. In combination with optical pumping
techniques, the coherent exchange between spin and motional excitations enables
ground state cooling and the controlled generation of arbitrary quantum
superpositions of resonator states. Optical spin readout techniques provide a
general measurement toolbox for the resonator with quantum limited precision
Environment Assisted Metrology with Spin Qubit
We investigate the sensitivity of a recently proposed method for precision
measurement [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 140502 (2011)], focusing on an
implementation based on solid-state spin systems. The scheme amplifies a
quantum sensor response to weak external fields by exploiting its coupling to
spin impurities in the environment. We analyze the limits to the sensitivity
due to decoherence and propose dynamical decoupling schemes to increase the
spin coherence time. The sensitivity is also limited by the environment spin
polarization; therefore we discuss strategies to polarize the environment spins
and present a method to extend the scheme to the case of zero polarization. The
coherence time and polarization determine a figure of merit for the
environment's ability to enhance the sensitivity compared to echo-based sensing
schemes. This figure of merit can be used to engineer optimized samples for
high-sensitivity nanoscale magnetic sensing, such as diamond nanocrystals with
controlled impurity density.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Environment Assisted Precision Measurement
We describe a method to enhance the sensitivity of precision measurements
that takes advantage of a quantum sensor's environment to amplify its response
to weak external perturbations. An individual qubit is used to sense the
dynamics of surrounding ancillary qubits, which are in turn affected by the
external field to be measured. The resulting sensitivity enhancement is
determined by the number of ancillas that are coupled strongly to the sensor
qubit; it does not depend on the exact values of the coupling strengths and is
resilient to many forms of decoherence. The method achieves nearly
Heisenberg-limited precision measurement, using a novel class of entangled
states. We discuss specific applications to improve clock sensitivity using
trapped ions and magnetic sensing based on electronic spins in diamond.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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