Investigating the impact of laser illumination upon coherence times of electron spin qubits bound to donors in silicon

Donor spin qubits in silicon have long represented an attractive proposition for a qubit architecture. They have long coherence times, fast gate times and development can leverage techniques of the semiconductor industry. Another potential spin qubit, the optically active crystal defect - of which the NV centre in diamond is the most prominent example - has demonstrated exceptional single qubit properties particularly with regards to high fidelity single-shot read out.
An intriguing research question is whether these two different species of spin qubit could be employed in a hybrid architecture. To assess the potential for this an initial study is needed on the impact of laser illumination on coherence times of donor spin qubits in silicon to establish threshold wavelengths and powers at which coherence is negligibly affected. Here, we present an analysis of the impact of NIR illumination on the coherence of electrons bound to phosphorus donors in silicon.