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arXiv:1408.7045 · Physical Review B

Broadband noise-free optical quantum memory with neutral nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

Eilon Poem, Christian Weinzetl, James Klatzow, K. T. Kaczmarek, J. H. D. Munns, T. F. M. Champion, D. J. Saunders, J. Nunn, Ian A. Walmsley

Published May 8, 2015• 29 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

It is proposed that the ground-state manifold of the neutral nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond could be used as a quantum two-level system in a solid-state-based implementation of a broadband noise-free quantum optical memory. The proposal is based on the same-spin $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type three-level system created between the two $E$ orbital ground states and the ${A}_{1}$ orbital excited state of the center, and the cross-linear polarization selection rules obtained with the application of a transverse electric field or uniaxial stress. Possible decay and decoherence mechanisms of this system are discussed, and it is shown that high-efficiency, noise-free storage of photons as short as a few tens of picoseconds for at least a few nanoseconds could be possible at low temperature.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.91.205108

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It is proposed that the ground-state manifold of the neutral nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond could be used as a quantum two-level system in a solid-state-based implementation of a broadband noise-free quantum optical memory. The proposal is based on the same-spin \ensuremathΛ\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremathΛ-type three-level system created between the two EEE orbital ground states and the A1{A}_{1}A1​ orbital excited state of the center, and the cross-linear polarization selection rules obtained with the application of a transverse electric field or uniaxial stress. Possible decay and decoherence mechanisms of this system are discussed, and it is shown that high-efficiency, noise-free storage of photons as short as a few tens of picoseconds for at least a few nanoseconds could be possible at low temperature.
A concept combining optics and microwave pulses with the negative charge-state of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV—) center in diamond is demonstrated through experiments that are equivalent to single-qubit gates, and decoherence for this qubit is examined. The spin levels of the ground state provide the two-level system. Optical excitation provides polarization of these states. The polarized state is operated coherently by 35 GHz microwave pulses. The final state is read out through the photoluminescence intensity. Decoherence arises from different sources for different samples. For high-pressure, high-temperature synthetic diamonds, the high concentration of substitutional N limits the phase-memory to a few μs. In a single-crystal CVD diamond, the phase memory time is at least 32 μs at 100 K. 14N is tightly coupled to the electronic spin and produces modulation of the electron–spin echo decay under certain conditions. A two-qubit gate is proposed using this nuclear spin. This demonstration provides a great deal of insight into quantum devices in the solid state with some possibility for real application.
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Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond typically have spin-conserving optical transitions, a feature which allows for optical detection of the long-lived electronic spin states through fluorescence detection. However, by applying stress to a sample it is possible to obtain spin-nonconserving transitions in which a single excited state couples to multiple ground states. Here we describe two-frequency optical spectroscopy on single nitrogen-vacancy centers in a high-purity diamond sample at low temperature. When stress is applied to the sample it is possible to observe coherent population trapping with a single center. By adjusting the stress it is possible to obtain a situation in which all of the transitions from the three ground sublevels to a common excited state are strongly allowed. These results show that all-optical spin manipulation is possible for this system, and we propose that that by coupling single centers to optical microcavities, a scalable quantum network could be realized for photonic quantum information processing.
Nitrogen vacancy (NV-) color centers in diamond are a prime candidate for use in quantum information devices, owing to their spin-1 ground state, straightforward optical initialization and readout, and long intrinsic coherence times in a room-temperature solid. While the 13C nuclear spin is often a dominant source of magnetic noise, we observe transitions between electron-nuclear hyperfine states of NV- centers in 99% 13C diamond that are robust to decoherence. At magnetic field strengths ranging from 550 - 900 G, these transitions are observable by optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR), and exhibit linewidths narrowed by factors as high as ~130 at room temperature over typical electron-type transitions observed from this spin system. We anticipate the use of these decoherence-protected transitions, in combination with dynamical decoupling methods, for storage of quantum information.
Abstract Recently, the possibility of implementing a cavity-enhanced off-resonant Raman quantum memory in an ensemble of silicon-vacancy centers in diamond has been studied (Kalachev et al 2019 Laser Phys. 29 104001). It was shown that the signal-to-noise ratio can significantly exceed unity for short single-photon input pulses if the orbital level splitting in the ground state of the color centers is significantly enhanced by strain. The latter results in decreasing the coherence time between the two available orbital branches of the ground state, though. In the present work, we consider the possibility of increasing the storage time due to the use of nanodiamonds. It is shown that suppression of direct electron-phonon transitions in the diamond nanocrystals makes it possible to increase the coherence time of both orbital and spin qubits by orders of magnitude.
We propose a scheme to realize optical quantum memories in an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond that are coupled to a microcavity. The scheme is based on off-resonant Raman coupling, which allows one to circumvent optical inhomogeneous broadening and store optical photons in the electronic spin coherence. This approach promises a storage time of order 1 s and a time-bandwidth product of order 107{10}^{7}107. We include all possible optical transitions in a nine-level configuration, numerically evaluate the efficiencies, and discuss the requirements for achieving high efficiency and fidelity.