Spin Polarization, Electron-Phonon Coupling, and Zero-Phonon Line of the NV Center in 3<i>C</i>-SiC.

Jurgen von Bardeleben, Hans; Cantin, Jean-Louis; Gerstmann, Uwe; Schmidt, Wolf Gero; Biktagirov, Timur · Nano Lett · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in 3<i>C</i>-SiC, the analog of the NV center in diamond, has recently emerged as a solid-state qubit with competitive properties and significant technological advantages. Combining first-principles calculations and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we provide thorough insight into its magneto-optical properties. By applying resonantly excited electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, we identified the zero-phonon absorption line of the <sup>3</sup><i>A</i><sub>2</sub> → <sup>3</sup><i>E</i> transition at 1289 nm (within the telecom O-band) and measured its phonon sideband, the analysis of which reveals a Huang-Rhys factor of <i>S</i> = 2.85 and a Debye-Waller factor of 5.8%. The low-temperature spin-lattice relaxation time was found to be exceptionally long (<i>T</i><sub>1</sub> = 17 s at 4 K). All these properties make NV in 3<i>C</i>-SiC a strong competitor for qubit applications. In addition, the strong variation of the zero-field splitting in the range 4-380 K allows its application for nanoscale thermal sensing.