Room-temperature control and electrical readout of individual nitrogen-vacancy nuclear spins

Nat. Commun. 12, 4421 (2021) · DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24494-x

License: CC BY 4.0.

Abstract

Nuclear spins in semiconductors are leading candidates for future quantum technologies, including quantum computation, communication, and sensing. Nuclear spins in diamond are particularly attractive due to their long coherence time. With the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre, such nuclear qubits benefit from an auxiliary electronic qubit, which, at cryogenic temperatures, enables probabilistic entanglement mediated optically by photonic links. Here, we demonstrate a concept of a microelectronic quantum device at ambient conditions using diamond as wide bandgap semiconductor. The basic quantum processor unit – a single $^{14}$N nuclear spin coupled to the NV electron – is read photoelectrically and thus operates in a manner compatible with nanoscale electronics. The underlying theory provides the key ingredients for photoelectric quantum gate operations and readout of nuclear qubit registers. This demonstration is, therefore, a step towards diamond quantum devices with a readout area limited by inter-electrode distance rather than by the diffraction limit. Such scalability could enable the development of electronic quantum processors based on the dipolar interaction of spin-qubits placed at nanoscopic proximity.

Figures

14 panels with data across 4 figures. Each panel page shows the plot, its columns and its files; each data.csv begins with a header naming the paper, the panel, the source, the license and the provenance route.

Fig. 1

• panel (b-1): Current (pA, log axis) against bias voltage (V) for the single NV centre: total current with the laser focused on the NV (red), background current with the laser focused outside the NV (blue) and dark current with the laser off (grey). The dotted line marks the selected 8.6 V. The print draws smoothed curves; the measured values are joined by straight lines here. data.csv
• panel (b-2): Signal-to-background contrast SBC (%), (total $-$ background)/total, against bias voltage (V), lower plot of panel (b); the dotted line marks the selected 8.6 V. The print draws a smoothed curve with a filled area under it; the measured values are joined by straight lines here and the fill is not reproduced. data.csv

Fig. 2

• panel (b-1): Pulsed PDMR spectrum of the NV $^{14}$N hyperfine lines at 123 G: contrast (%) against MW frequency (MHz), upper plot of panel (b). The pale line is the measurement and the dark line the fit; contrast increases downward, as printed. data.csv
• panel (b-2): Pulsed PDMR spectrum of the NV $^{14}$N hyperfine lines at 439 G: contrast (%) against MW frequency (MHz), lower plot of panel (b). The pale line is the measurement and the dark line the fit; contrast increases downward, as printed. data.csv

Fig. 3

• panel (a): Normalized PL intensity against time ($\mu$s) after the laser pulse is switched on at 1 mW, for the initial spin states $|0,1\rangle$, $|0,0\rangle$, $|-1,1\rangle$ and $|-1,0\rangle$: experiment (thin lines) and theory (bold lines). As printed, the $|0,0\rangle$, $|-1,1\rangle$ and $|-1,0\rangle$ curves are shifted down by 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15. data.csv
• panel (b): Normalized PL intensity against time ($\mu$s) after the laser pulse is switched on at 3 mW, for the initial spin states $|0,1\rangle$, $|0,0\rangle$, $|-1,1\rangle$ and $|-1,0\rangle$: experiment (thin lines) and theory (bold lines). As printed, the $|0,0\rangle$, $|-1,1\rangle$ and $|-1,0\rangle$ curves are shifted down by 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15. data.csv
• panel (c): Theoretical contrast against integration time ($\mu$s) at 1 mW: ODMR, electron-only current ($e^-$ current, dashed), hole-only current ($h^+$ current, dashed) and total current ($e^- + h^+$ current, PDMR). data.csv
• panel (d): Simulated electron currents (solid) and hole currents (dashed) against time ($\mu$s) at 1 mW for the initial states $|0,1\rangle$ and $|-1,1\rangle$, normalized to the steady-state electron current of $|0,1\rangle$. The grey areas the print draws under the curves are not reproduced. data.csv
• panel (e): Simulated electron currents (solid) and hole currents (dashed) against time ($\mu$s) at 3 mW for the initial states $|0,1\rangle$ and $|-1,1\rangle$, normalized to the steady-state electron current of $|0,1\rangle$. The grey areas the print draws under the curves are not reproduced. data.csv
• panel (f): Theoretical contrast against integration time ($\mu$s) at 3 mW: ODMR, electron-only current ($e^-$ current, dashed), hole-only current ($h^+$ current, dashed) and total current ($e^- + h^+$ current, PDMR). data.csv

Fig. 4

• panel (c): Electrically detected RF resonance of the $|0,+1\rangle$ to $|0,0\rangle$ transition of the single $^{14}$N nuclear spin at 439 G with RF and MW0 $\pi$-pulses: contrast (%) against RF frequency (MHz). Contrast increases downward, as printed; the printed fit curve is not reproduced. data.csv
• panel (d): Electrically detected Rabi oscillations of the single $^{14}$N nuclear spin at 439 G, with an MW0 $\pi$-pulse after each RF pulse: contrast (%) against RF pulse duration ($\mu$s). Contrast increases downward, as printed; the printed fit curve is not reproduced. data.csv
• panel (e): Electrically detected RF resonance of the $|0,+1\rangle$ to $|0,0\rangle$ transition of the single $^{14}$N nuclear spin at 439 G without electron spin manipulation: contrast (%) against RF frequency (MHz). Contrast increases downward, as printed; the printed fit curve is not reproduced. data.csv
• panel (f): Electrically detected Rabi oscillations of the single $^{14}$N nuclear spin at 439 G without electron spin manipulation: contrast (%) against RF pulse duration ($\mu$s). Contrast increases downward, as printed; the printed fit curve is not reproduced. data.csv

Cite

Michal Gulka, Daniel Wirtitsch, Viktor Ivády, Jelle Vodnik, Jaroslav Hruby, Goele Magchiels, Emilie Bourgeois, Adam Gali, Michael Trupke, Milos Nesladek. Room-temperature control and electrical readout of individual nitrogen-vacancy nuclear spins. Nat. Commun. 12, 4421 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24494-x

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