Optical Characterization of Single Tin-Vacancy Centers in Diamond

Atom-like defects in diamond have emerged in recent years as candidates for solid-state, optically active qubits. Inversion-symmetric color centers based on group-IV impurities in diamond are of particular interest because of their strong optical properties and relatively good immunity to electric field noise. Phonon-induced transitions resonant with the ground-state (GS) splitting are a major cause of spin decoherence for these color centers but can be mitigated with an increased GS splitting. With a relatively large GS splitting of 850 GHz, the tin-vacancy (SnV) center in diamond holds potential for longer spin coherence times while also possessing good optical properties. In this talk, we will present our recent experimental characterization of the optical and spin properties of single SnV color centers in diamond nanopillars. We measure linewidths <30 GHz, observe a clear polarization dependence of the emission, and experimentally investigate the Zeeman splitting of the SnV. Our results match well the predictions of previous theoretical work.