We study the coherence times and perform manipulations on the lowest-energy states of trivalent cerium ion in calcium tungstate crystal. We find the phase memory time reaching 14.2 ${mu}$s and the time of coherent manipulations reaching 0.3 ${mu}$s in the low-temperature limit, the latter can potentially be elongated by using the rotation angle and off-resonance error correction schemes.
Spin-orbit coupling fundamentally alters spin qubits, opening pathways to improve the scalability of quantum computers via long distance coupling mediated by electric fields, photons, or phonons. It also allows for new engineered hybrid and topological quantum systems. However, spin qubits with intrinsic spin-orbit coupling are not yet viable for quantum technologies due to their short ($sim1~mu$s) coherence times $T_2$, while qubits with long $T_2$ have weak spin-orbit coupling making qubit coupling short-ranged and challenging for scale-up. Here we show that an intrinsic spin-orbit coupled generalised spin with total angular momentum $J=tfrac{3}{2}$, which is defined by holes bound to boron dopant atoms in strained $^{28}mathrm{Si}$, has $T_2$ rivalling the electron spins of donors and quantum dots in $^{28}mathrm{Si}$. Using pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance, we obtain $0.9~mathrm{ms}$ Hahn-echo and $9~mathrm{ms}$ dynamical decoupling $T_2$ times, where strain plays a key role to reduce spin-lattice relaxation and the longitudinal electric coupling responsible for decoherence induced by electric field noise. Our analysis shows that transverse electric dipole can be exploited for electric manipulation and qubit coupling while maintaining a weak longitudinal coupling, a feature of $J=tfrac{3}{2}$ atomic systems with a strain engineered quadrupole degree of freedom. These results establish single-atom hole spins in silicon with quantised total angular momentum, not spin, as a highly coherent platform with tuneable intrinsic spin-orbit coupling advantageous to build artificial quantum systems and couple qubits over long distances.
We experimentally demonstrate an ultrafast method for preparing spin states of donor-bound electrons in GaAs with single laser pulses. Each polarization state of a preparation pulse has a direct mapping onto a spin state, with bijective correspondence between the Poincar{e}-sphere (for photon polarization) and Bloch-sphere (for spin) state representations. The preparation is governed by a stimulated Raman process and occurs orders of magnitude faster than the spontaneous emission and spin dephasing. Similar dynamics governs our ultrafast optical Kerr detection of the spin coherence, thus getting access to spin state tomography. Experiments with double preparation pulses show an additive character for the preparation method. Utilization of these phenomena is of value for quantum information schemes.
We present an experimental and theoretical study of electronic spin decoherence in ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers in bulk high-purity diamond at room temperature. Under appropriate conditions, we find ensemble NV spin coherence times (T_2) comparable to that of single NVs, with T_2 > 600 microseconds for a sample with natural abundance of 13C and paramagnetic impurity density ~10^15 cm^(-3). We also observe a sharp decrease of the coherence time with misalignment of the static magnetic field relative to the NV electronic spin axis, consistent with theoretical modeling of NV coupling to a 13C nuclear spin bath. The long coherence times and increased signal-to-noise provided by room-temperature NV ensembles will aid many applications of NV centers in precision magnetometry and quantum information.
We demonstrate electrical detection of the $^{14}$N nuclear spin coherence of NV centers at room temperature. Nuclear spins are candidates for quantum memories in quantum-information devices and quantum sensors, and hence the electrical detection of nuclear spin coherence is essential to develop and integrate such quantum devices. In the present study, we used a pulsed electrically detected electron-nuclear double resonance technique to measure the Rabi oscillations and coherence time ($T_2$) of $^{14}$N nuclear spins in NV centers at room temperature. We observed $T_2 approx$ 0.9 ms at room temperature. Our results will pave the way for the development of novel electron- and nuclear-spin-based diamond quantum devices.
The inhomogeneity of an electron spin ensemble as well as fluctuating environment acting upon individual spins drastically shorten the spin coherence time $T_2$ and hinder coherent spin manipulation. We show that this problem can be solved by the simultaneous application of a radiofrequency (rf) field, which stimulates coherent spin precession decoupled from an inhomogeneous environment, and periodic optical pulses, which amplify this precession. The resulting resonance, taking place when the rf field frequency approaches the laser pulse repetition frequency, has a width determined by the spin coherence time $T_2$ that is free from the inhomogeneity effects. We measure a 50-Hz-narrow electron spin resonance and milliseconds-long $T_2$ for electrons in the ground state of Ce$^{3+}$ ions in the YAG lattice at low temperatures, while the inhomogeneous spin dephasing time $T_2^*$ is only 25 ns. This study paves the way to coherent optical manipulation in spin systems decoupled from their inhomogeneous environment.