No Arabic abstract
The electronic and magnetic properties of a neutral substitutional nickel (Ni$_s^0$) impurity in diamond are studied using density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation. The spin-one ground state consists of two electrons with parallel spins, one located on the nickel ion in the $3d^9$ configuration and the other distributed among the nearest-neighbor carbons. The exchange interaction between these spins is due to $p-d$ hybridization and is controllable with compressive hydrostatic or uniaxial strain, and for sufficient strain the antiparallel spin configuration becomes the ground state. Hence, the Ni impurity forms a controllable two-electron exchange-coupled system that should be a robust qubit for solid-state quantum information processing.
We have quantified substitutional impurity concentrations in synthetic diamond crystals down to sub parts-per-billion levels. The capture lifetimes of electrons and excitons injected by photoexcitation were compared for several samples with different impurity concentrations. Based on the assessed impurity concentrations, we have determined the capture cross section of electrons to boron impurity, sA=1.3x10^-14 cm2, and that of excitons to nitrogen impurity, sD^ex=3.1x10^-14 cm2. The general tendency of the mobility values for different carrier species is successfully reproduced by including carrier scattering by impurities and by excitons.
Quantum computing is an attractive and multidisciplinary field, which became a focus for experimental and theoretical research during last decade. Among other systems, like ions in traps or superconducting circuits, solid-states based qubits are considered to be promising candidates for first experimental tests of quantum hardware. Here we report recent progress in quantum information processing with point defect in diamond. Qubits are defined as single spin states (electron or nuclear). This allows exploring long coherence time (up to seconds for nuclear spins at cryogenic temperatures). In addition, the optical transition between ground and excited electronic states allows coupling of spin degrees of freedom to the state of the electromagnetic field. Such coupling gives access to the spin state readout via spin-selective scattering of photon. This also allows using of spin state as robust memory for flying qubits (photons).
We report the first observation of substitutional silicon atoms in single-layer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) using aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The medium angle annular dark field (MAADF) images reveal silicon atoms exclusively filling boron vacancies. This structure is stable enough under electron beam for repeated imaging. Density functional theory (DFT) is used to study the energetics, structure and properties of the experimentally observed structure. The formation energies of all possible charge states of the different silicon substitutions (Si$_mathrm{B}$, Si$_mathrm{N}$ and Si$_mathrm{{BN}}$) are calculated. The results reveal Si$_mathrm{B}^{+1}$ as the most stable substitutional configuration. In this case, silicon atom elevates by 0.66{AA} out of the lattice with unoccupied defect levels in the electronic band gap above the Fermi level. The formation energy shows a slightly exothermic process. Our results unequivocally show that heteroatoms can be incorporated into the h-BN lattice opening way for applications ranging from single-atom catalysis to atomically precise magnetic structures.
It is suggested that the substitutional nitrogen in diamonds bonded to three of the surrounding carbon atoms instead of four. This proposed electron configuration of the defect is deduced from previous experiments and theoretical considerations. Notably, the 1344 cm-1 band, characteristics of the substitutional Nitrogen, is independent of the isotopic change of Nitrogen but depend on the isotopic change of Carbon. The well established NV centre should not be stable if Nitrogen is bounded to four of the surrounding Carbon. Additional support comes from the substantially bigger size of the single substitutional nitrogen atom indicating loan pair electron. The proposed configuration of the substitutional Nitrogen was also tested by using a simple force constant model. Replacing force constant of C-N with 2/3 C-C:1/3 C=C reproduces the 1344 cm-1 band.
Physics and information are intimately connected, and the ultimate information processing devices will be those that harness the principles of quantum mechanics. Many physical systems have been identified as candidates for quantum information processing, but none of them are immune from errors. The challenge remains to find a path from the experiments of today to a reliable and scalable quantum computer. Here, we develop an architecture based on a simple module comprising an optical cavity containing a single negatively-charged nitrogen vacancy centre in diamond. Modules are connected by photons propagating in a fiber-optical network and collectively used to generate a topological cluster state, a robust substrate for quantum information processing. In principle, all processes in the architecture can be deterministic, but current limitations lead to processes that are probabilistic but heralded. We find that the architecture enables large-scale quantum information processing with existing technology.