A quantum computer based on NV centers in diamond: Optically detected nutations of single electron and nuclear spins

In an effort to realize a two-bit processor for a quantum computer on the basis of single nitrogen-vacancy defect centers (NV centers) in diamond, the optically detected nutations of the electron spin of a single NV center in the ground state and of the nuclear spin of a ¹³C atom located at a diamond lattice site nearest to the NV center are studied. The photodynamics of NV and NV + ¹³C centers under different temperatures and optical excitation conditions is discussed. A seven-level model of a center excited by radiation from an Ar⁺ laser at room temperature is proposed. On the basis of this model, the experimental spectra of optically detected electron paramagnetic and electron-nuclear double resonances of single NV and NV + ¹³C centers in diamond nanocrystals, as well as experimental data on the optically detected nutations of the electron and nuclear spins of these centers caused by the actions of pulsed microwave and radiofrequency fields, respectively, are interpreted.     

金刚石氮-空位色心的原子自旋声子耦合机理

金刚石氮-空位色心结构因在量子精密测量领域的高灵敏度优势而备受关注.本文引入耦合声子场对氮-空位色心原子自旋进行共振调控,以提高氮-空位色心的自旋跃迁效率.首先,基于波函数和晶格的点阵位移矢量关系,分析了声子与晶格能量交互作用,研究了基于声子共振调控的氮-空位色心的自旋跃迁机理,建立了基于应变诱导的能量转移声子-自旋交互耦合激发模型.其次,基于氮-空位色心晶格振动理论,引入满足布洛赫定理的系数矩阵,建立了不同轴向氮-空位色心第一布里渊区特征区域的声子谱模型.同时,基于德拜模型,考虑热膨胀效应,解析该声子共振系统的声子热平衡性质,并对其比热模型进行研究.最后,基于分子动力学仿真软件CASTEP和密度泛函理论进行第一性原理研究,构建了声子模式下不同轴向氮-空位色心的结构优化模型,并分析了其结构特性、声子特性和热力学特性.研究结果表明,系统声子模式的演化依赖于氮-空位的占位,声子模式强化伴随着热力学熵的降低.含氮-空位色心金刚石的共价键较纯净无缺陷金刚石更弱,热力学性质更不稳定.含氮-空位色心金刚石的声子主共振频段处于THz量级,次共振频率约为[800,1200]MHz.根据次共振频段设计叉指宽度为1.5μm的声表面波共振机构,其中心频率约为930 MHz.在该声子共振调控参数条件下,声子共振调控方法可有效增大氮-空位色心的自旋跃迁概率,实现氮-空位色心原子自旋操控效率的提高.     

金刚石氮空位色心耦合机械振子和腔场系统中方差压缩研究

研究了金刚石氮空位中心(NV色心)同时耦合腔场和机械振子系统中声子场的方差压缩动力学特性,分析了金刚石NV色心初态和NV色心与机械振子耦合强度对声子场方差压缩影响.结果发现:可以制备压缩时间长、压缩幅度大的声子场压缩态,其物理原因是机械振子具有最大相干性,并且通过调控NV色心初态以及磁场梯度可以实现对机械振子方差压缩非经典特性的操控,从而在理论上提供了一种调控声子场方差压缩的方式.     

利用金刚石氮-空位色心精确测量弱磁场的探索

基于金刚石氮-空位色心对精确测量微弱静磁场进行了探索.金刚石氮-空位色心电子自旋的退相干时间高度依赖于外磁场,而不同的退相干特征时间对磁场的灵敏度不同.对金刚石氮-空位色心电子自旋在不同强度外磁场下的退相干过程进行模拟,得到不同退相干特征时间与磁场大小的高准确度关系,提出了基于响应度最高的退相干特征时间测量静态弱磁场大小和方向的方法,并分析了该方法测量静态弱磁场的灵敏度,证明该方法的测量灵敏度比一般磁场测量仪器更高.     

Interaction of Muons with H2/H3-Centres in Diamond

We report on transverse field muon spin rotation measurements on a nitrogen-rich type Ia diamond, both before and after the conversion of some of the aggregated nitrogen centres to nitrogen-vacancy complexes known as H2/H3-centres. The prompt fractions f and the spin relaxation rates λ were determined for the diamagnetic (μ_d) and the paramagnetic (Mu_T) states in the temperature range 10–300 K. The production of the nitrogen-vacancy complexes had little effect on the parameters of the Mu_T state for which f and λ remained unchanged at approximately 30% and 4 μs⁻¹, respectively. For the μ_d state, on the other hand, the formation of the H2/H3-centres resulted in an increase of the prompt fraction from 10(2)% to 20(3)%, and (for the first time) the spin relaxation rate showed a non-zero value of 0.020(3) μs⁻¹. These results show evidence of strong μ_d interactions with the nitrogen-vacancy complexes in diamond, and suggest a more complex structure for this state than a bare μ⁺. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

表面氧化钛涂层增强金刚石中浅层NV色心的荧光强度

本文利用原子层沉积技术在金刚石表面沉积了一层氧化钛涂层,该方法使得金刚石中的浅层(深度小于10 nm)NV~-色心的电荷态变得稳定,同时其荧光强度增强至大约原本的2倍.这种表面涂层技术能够为固态量子体系提供厚度可控的保护层或钝化层,同时又不损伤或腐蚀体系表面,有望成为一种固态量子体系钝化或封装的方法.     

Quantum interference of single photons from remote nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

We demonstrate quantum interference between indistinguishable photons emitted by two nitrogen-vacancy centers in distinct diamond samples separated by two meters. Macroscopic solid immersion lenses are used to enhance photon collection efficiency. Quantum interference is verified by measuring a value of the second-order cross-correlation function g((2))(0)=0.35±0.04<0.5. In addition, optical transition frequencies of two separated nitrogen-vacancy centers are tuned into resonance with each other by applying external electric fields. An extension of the present approach to generate entanglement of remote solid-state qubits is discussed.     

Nuclear spin induced collapse and revival shape of Rabi oscillations of a single electron spin in diamond

A collapse and revival shape of Rabi oscillations in an electron spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy centre has been observed in diamond at room temperature. Because of hyperfine interaction between the host ¹⁴N nuclear spin and the nitrogen-vacancy centre electron spin, different orientations of the ¹⁴N nuclear spins lead to a triplet splitting of the transition between ground state (m_s =0) and excited state (m_s =1). The manipulation of the single electron spin of nitrogen-vacancy centre is achieved by using a combination of selective microwave excitation and optical pumping at 532 nm. Microwaves can excite three transitions equally to induce three independent nutations and the shape of Rabi oscillations is a combination of the three nutations.     

Electrical tuning of single nitrogen-vacancy center optical transitions enhanced by photoinduced fields

We demonstrate precise control over the zero-phonon optical transition energies of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond by applying multiaxis electric fields, via the dc Stark effect. The Stark shifts display surprising asymmetries that we attribute to an enhancement and rectification of the local electric field by photoionized charge traps in the diamond. Using this effect, we tune the excited-state orbitals of strained NV centers to degeneracy and vary the resulting degenerate optical transition frequency by >10 GHz, a scale comparable to the inhomogeneous frequency distribution. This technique will facilitate the integration of NV-center spins within photonic networks.     

Peculiarities of absorption and luminescence spectra of nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond crystals

We have studied photoluminescence spectra of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers upon their pumping by short-wavelength visible and near-UV radiation. We have shown that NV⁰ centers, as distinct from NV^? centers have an absorption line in the UV range. Inversion of the zero-phonon line of NV^? centers has been shown and interpreted.     

Photochromism in single nitrogen-vacancy defect in diamond

Photochromism in single nitrogen-vacancy optical centers in diamond is demonstrated. Time-resolved optical spectroscopy shows that intense irradiation at 514 nm switches the nitrogen-vacancy defects to the negative form. This defect state relaxes back to the neutral form under dark conditions. Temporal anticorrelation of photons emitted by the different charge states of the optical center unambiguously indicates that the nitrogen-vacancy defect accounts for both 575 nm and 638 nm emission bands. Possible mechanism of photochromism involving nitrogen donors is discussed. PACS 61.72.-y;61.72.Ji;03.67.-a     

Effect of Laser Radiation near 1.5 µm on the Photoluminescence Parameters and the Ensemble of NV Centers in Diamond

JETP Letters - The effect of laser radiation with a wavelength near 1.55 µm on the photoluminescence properties of “nitrogen-vacancy” (NV) color centers in diamond has been studied...     

Towards the implanting of ions and positioning of nanoparticles with nm spatial resolution

Decreasing structure sizes in both conventional and quantum solid state devices require novel fabrication methods: we present a technology which allows to implant ions through a small hole in the tip of an atomic force microscope. This technique offers a maskless addressing of small structures using different projectiles at kinetic energies between 0.5 and 5.0 keV. Our method aims to implant single atomic ions, molecular ions or charged nanoparticles with nm resolution. We test the method by implanting N⁺ ions into diamond and generating nitrogen-vacancy color centers. The system is operated with a conventional ion gun. However, in future we will employ an ion trap as a deterministic source of cold single ions. PACS 03.67.-a; 29.25.Ni; 61.72.Ji; 81.16.Rf; 85.40.Ry     

Defects and impurities in nanodiamonds: EPR, NMR and TEM study

EPR, ¹³C NMR and TEM study of ultradisperse diamond (UDD) samples is reported. The compounds show a high concentration of paramagnetic centers (up to 10²⁰ spin/g), which are due to structural defects (dangling C-C bonds) on the diamond cluster surface. The anomalous reduction in the spin-lattice relaxation time of ¹³C (from several hours in natural diamond to ∼150 ms in UDD clusters) is attributed to the interaction between the unpaired electrons of the paramagnetic centers and nuclear spins. ¹³C NMR line-width reflects the fact that the structure of the UDD surface is distorted in comparison to the ‘bulk’ diamond structure.     

Electron-mediated nuclear-spin interactions between distant nitrogen-vacancy centers

We propose a scheme enabling controlled quantum coherent interactions between separated nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond in the presence of strong magnetic fluctuations. The proposed scheme couples nuclear qubits employing the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction between the electron spins and, crucially, benefits from the suppression of the effect of environmental magnetic field fluctuations thanks to a strong microwave driving. This scheme provides a basic building block for a full-scale quantum-information processor or quantum simulator based on solid-state technology.     

Strong coupling of a spin ensemble to a superconducting resonator

We report the realization of a quantum circuit in which an ensemble of electronic spins is coupled to a frequency tunable superconducting resonator. The spins are nitrogen-vacancy centers in a diamond crystal. The achievement of strong coupling is manifested by the appearance of a vacuum Rabi splitting in the transmission spectrum of the resonator when its frequency is tuned through the nitrogen-vacancy center electron spin resonance.     

Raman heterodyne detected magnetic resonance: II. Magnetic transitions of NV centre at level anticrossing region

In the preceding paper [1] we reported both cw and coherent transient measurements carried out in EPR and NMR transitions within the³A ground state of the nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond using the Raman heterodyne detection technique. In this paper we use these measurements to characterise the nuclear magnetic transitions near a level anticrossing situation. The level anticrossing causes a mixing of the electronic spin and nuclear spin wave functions which results in a greatly enhanced NMR transition moment. The amount of mixing not only affects the dipole moment but, correspondingly, the characteristic relaxation times. In this paper we report the measurement of these parameters in the nitrogen-vacancy centre as a function of applied Zeeman field strength and analyse the results using the spin Hamiltonian formalism. Furthermore, combined with the particular features of the Raman heterodyne technique, such a system represents an ideal testing ground for the nonlinear behaviour of strongly driven transitions. Some results are illustrated, including dynamic Zeeman splitting and gain without inversion.     

Stark shift control of single optical centers in diamond

Lifetime-limited optical excitation lines of single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect centers in diamond have been observed at liquid helium temperature. They display unprecedented spectral stability over many seconds and excitation cycles. Spectral tuning of the spin-selective optical resonances was performed via the application of an external electric field (i.e., the Stark shift). A rich variety of Stark shifts were observed including linear as well as quadratic components. The ability to tune the excitation lines of single NV centers has potential applications in quantum information processing.     

金刚石集群NV色心的光谱特征及浓度定量分析

金刚石NV-色心具有优越的光致发光特性,可实现高灵敏度物理量探测。其中,NV-色心的浓度是影响其宏观领域物理量探测灵敏度的重要因素之一。分析了金刚石在NV-色心制备过程中产生的发光缺陷,研究了不同的电子注入剂量与NV-色心浓度的关系。首先,对金刚石进行电子辐照并高温真空退火,制备了NV-色心;然后,利用拉曼光谱仪测试了金刚石在电子辐照前、电子辐照后及退火后三个阶段中的荧光光谱,分析了金刚石在NV-色心制备过程中的光谱特性;最后,对生成的NV-色心的浓度进行了估算,并探究了不同电子注入剂量对NV-色心浓度的影响规律。结果表明,金刚石经电子注入后生成了524.7,541.1,578和648.1 nm发光中心。其中,HPHT合成金刚石经电子注入后普遍存在524.7 nm中心。电子注入后的金刚石经高温(≥800 ℃)真空(≥10-7 Pa)退火后,空位自由移动,不稳定的缺陷消失,当空位靠近氮原子时被束缚而形成氮空位色心。对于氮含量100 ppm的金刚石,当电子注入产生的空位含量小于120 ppm(2.1×1019 cm-3)时,NV-色心浓度与电子注入生成空位的含量的关系符合Boltzmann分布。该研究为利用氮含量100 ppm的金刚石实现定量NV-色心浓度的制备提供了参考依据,为NV-色心在宏观物理量精密测量的应用奠定了基础。     

Coherent population trapping of single spins in diamond under optical excitation

Coherent population trapping is demonstrated in single nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under optical excitation. For sufficient excitation power, the fluorescence intensity drops almost to the background level when the laser modulation frequency matches the 2.88 GHz splitting of the ground states. The results are well described theoretically by a four-level model, allowing the relative transition strengths to be determined for individual centers. The results show that all-optical control of single spins is possible in diamond.