High-fidelity spin and optical control of single silicon-vacancy centres in silicon carbide.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31028260.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-09873-9 and PMC identifier 6486615.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Scalable quantum networking requires quantum systems with quantum processing capabilities. Solid state spin systems with reliable spin-optical interfaces are a leading hardware in this regard. However, available systems suffer from large electron-phonon interaction or fast spin dephasing. Here, we demonstrate that the negatively charged silicon-vacancy centre in silicon carbide is immune to both drawbacks. Thanks to its <sup>4</sup>A<sub>2</sub> symmetry in ground and excited states, optical resonances are stable with near-Fourier-transform-limited linewidths, allowing exploitation of the spin selectivity of the optical transitions. In combination with millisecond-long spin coherence times originating from the high-purity crystal, we demonstrate high-fidelity optical initialization and coherent spin control, which we exploit to show coherent coupling to single nuclear spins with ∼1 kHz resolution. The summary of our findings makes this defect a prime candidate for realising memory-assisted quantum network applications using semiconductor-based spin-to-photon interfaces and coherently coupled nuclear spins.