Optical studies of ultrafast orbital dynamics of a single spin in diamond

ORAL

Abstract

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond shows great potential as an optically addressable solid-state spin for use in quantum information and metrology. At low temperature ($T < 10$ K) the NV center's orbital-doublet, spin-triplet excited state becomes stable and optically coherent with the ground state. Here we use ultrafast optical pump-probe techniques coupled with optical polarization selection rules to investigate coherent orbital dynamics of the NV center's excited state\footnote{L. C. Bassett*, F. J. Heremans*, D. J. Christle, C. G. Yale, G. Burkard, B. B. Buckley, and D. D. Awschalom, \textit{in preparation}.}. The experiments reveal dynamics which occur on nanosecond down to femtosecond timescales due to the interplay amongst these three orbital levels. These techniques enable all-optical control of the NV center's spin state and could provide a probe to investigate orbital decoherence and phonon interactions in the NV center and other defect systems.

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Authors

  • F.J. Heremans

    Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

  • D.J. Christle

    Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

  • C.G. Yale

    Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

  • D.D. Awschalom

    University of Chicago and UC Santa Barbara, Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60652, Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, University of Chicago - Institute for Molecular Engineering, Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

  • L.C. Bassett

    Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

  • B.B. Buckley

    University of California, Santa Barbara - Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

  • G. Burkard

    University Konstanz, University of Konstanz, Germany, Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Germany, University of Konstanz, Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany