Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1906.00047

\emph{Ab initio} theory of nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

Ádám Gali

Published May 31, 2019• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond is a solid state defect qubit with favorable coherence time up to room temperature which could be harnessed in several quantum enhanced sensor and quantum communication applications, and has a potential in quantum simulation and computing. The quantum control largely depends on the intricate details about the electronic structure and states of the nitrogen-vacancy center, radiative and non-radiative rates between these states and the coupling of these states to external spins, electrical, magnetic and strain fields and temperature. In this review paper it is shown how first principles calculations contributed to understanding the properties of nitrogen-vacancy center, and will be briefly discussed the issues to be solved towards full \emph{ab initio} description of solid state defect qubits.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1906.00047

Related papers

Ab initio theory of the nitrogen‐vacancy center in diamond

Ádám Gali

Abstract The nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a solid‐state defect qubit with favorable coherence time up to room temperature, which could be harnessed in several quantum‐enhanced sensor and quantum communication applications, and has a potential in quantum simulation and computing. The quantum control largely depends on the intricate details about the electronic structure and states of the NV center, the radiative and nonradiative rates between these states, and the coupling of these states to external spins, electric, magnetic, and strain fields, and temperature. This review shows how first‐principles calculations contributed to understanding the properties of the NV center and briefly discusses the issues to be solved toward the full ab initio description of solid‐state defect qubits.

Nanophotonics•Jun 1, 2018•291 citations

Photoexcitation and recombination processes of the neutral nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond from first principles

Gergő Thiering, Ádám Gali

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) complex in diamond is one of the most prominent solid state defects as the negatively charged NV defect (NV−) is a leading contender for quantum technologies. In quantum information processing applications, NV− is photoexcited that often leads to photoionization to neutral NV defect, NV0, and re-ionization back to NV− should occur to control the S=1 spin of NV−. As a consequence, understanding the photophysics of NV0 is crucial for controlling NV−. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that the S=1/2 electron spin of NV0 can also be initialized and read out at certain conditions that turns single NV0 a potential quantum bit. Quantum optics protocols rest on detailed knowledge on the electronic structure of the given system, which is obviously missing for NV0 in diamond. In this study, we combine the group theory and density functional theory calculations toward exploring the nature of the ground and excited states of NV0. We show that the effective three-electron system of NV0 leads to high correlation effects that make this system very challenging for ab initio simulations.

Journal of Applied Physics•Aug 27, 2024•12 citations

Quantum information processing with nitrogen–vacancy centers in diamond

Gang‐Qin Liu, Xinyu Pan

Nitrogen–vacancy (NV) center in diamond is one of the most promising candidates to implement room temperature quantum computing. In this review, we briefly discuss the working principles and recent experimental progresses of this spin qubit. These results focus on understanding and prolonging center spin coherence, steering and probing spin states with dedicated quantum control techniques, and exploiting the quantum nature of these multi-spin systems, such as superposition and entanglement, to demonstrate the superiority of quantum information processing. Those techniques also stimulate the fast development of NV-based quantum sensing, which is an interdisciplinary field with great potential applications.

Chinese Physics B•Feb 1, 2018•59 citations

Theory of neutral nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond and its qubit application

Ádám Gali

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy defect (NV)$^-$ in diamond has attracted much attention in recent years in qubit and biological applications. The negative charge is donated from nearby nitrogen donors that could limit or stem the successful application of (NV)$^-$. In this Letter, we unambiguously identify the \emph{neutral} nitrogen-vacancy defect (NV$^0$) by \emph{ab initio} supercell calculations. Our analysis shows that i) the spin state can be \emph{selectively} occupied optically, ii) the electron spin state can be manipulated by time-varying magnetic field, and iii) the spin state may be read out optically. Based on this NV$^0$ is a new hope for realizing qubit in diamond \emph{without} the need of nitrogen donors.

arXiv:0902.2387•Feb 13, 2009•0 citations

Theory of the neutral nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond and its application to the realization of a qubit

Ádám Gali

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy defect $({\text{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}})$ in diamond has attracted much attention in recent years in qubit and biological applications. The negative charge is donated from nearby nitrogen donors that could limit or stem the successful application of ${\text{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. In this study, we identify the neutral nitrogen-vacancy defect $({\text{NV}}^{0})$ by ab initio supercell calculations through the comparison of the measured and calculated hyperfine tensors of the ${^{4}A}_{2}$ excited state. Our analysis shows that (i) the spin state can be selectively occupied optically, (ii) the electron spin state can be manipulated by time-varying magnetic field, and (iii) the spin state may be read out optically. Based on this ${\text{NV}}^{0}$ is a hope for realizing qubit in diamond without the need of nitrogen donors. In addition, we propose that ${\text{NV}}^{0}$ may be more sensitive magnetometer than the ultrasensitive ${\text{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$.

Physical Review B•Jun 30, 2009•114 citations

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond: the electronic solution

M W Doherty, N B Manson, P Delaney +1 more

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centre is a unique defect in diamond that possesses properties highly suited to many applications, including quantum information processing, quantum metrology and biolabelling. Although the unique properties of the centre have been extensively documented and utilized, a detailed understanding of the physics of the centre has not yet been achieved. Indeed, there persist a number of points of contention regarding the electronic structure of the centre, such as the ordering of the dark intermediate singlet states. Without a detailed model of the centre's electronic structure, the understanding of the system's unique dynamical properties cannot effectively progress. In this work, the molecular model of the defect centre is fully developed to provide a self-consistent model of the complete electronic structure of the centre. The application of the model to describe the effects of electric, magnetic and strain interactions, as well as the variation of the centre's fine structure with temperature, provides an invaluable tool to those studying the centre and a means of designing future empirical and ab initio studies of this important defect.

arXiv:1008.5224•New Journal of Physics•Feb 21, 2011•284 citations
Nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond is a solid state defect qubit with favorable coherence time up to room temperature which could be harnessed in several quantum enhanced sensor and quantum communication applications, and has a potential in quantum simulation and computing. The quantum control largely depends on the intricate details about the electronic structure and states of the nitrogen-vacancy center, radiative and non-radiative rates between these states and the coupling of these states to external spins, electrical, magnetic and strain fields and temperature. In this review paper it is shown how first principles calculations contributed to understanding the properties of nitrogen-vacancy center, and will be briefly discussed the issues to be solved towards full \emph{ab initio} description of solid state defect qubits.
Abstract The nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a solid‐state defect qubit with favorable coherence time up to room temperature, which could be harnessed in several quantum‐enhanced sensor and quantum communication applications, and has a potential in quantum simulation and computing. The quantum control largely depends on the intricate details about the electronic structure and states of the NV center, the radiative and nonradiative rates between these states, and the coupling of these states to external spins, electric, magnetic, and strain fields, and temperature. This review shows how first‐principles calculations contributed to understanding the properties of the NV center and briefly discusses the issues to be solved toward the full ab initio description of solid‐state defect qubits.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) complex in diamond is one of the most prominent solid state defects as the negatively charged NV defect (NV−) is a leading contender for quantum technologies. In quantum information processing applications, NV− is photoexcited that often leads to photoionization to neutral NV defect, NV0, and re-ionization back to NV− should occur to control the S=1 spin of NV−. As a consequence, understanding the photophysics of NV0 is crucial for controlling NV−. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that the S=1/2 electron spin of NV0 can also be initialized and read out at certain conditions that turns single NV0 a potential quantum bit. Quantum optics protocols rest on detailed knowledge on the electronic structure of the given system, which is obviously missing for NV0 in diamond. In this study, we combine the group theory and density functional theory calculations toward exploring the nature of the ground and excited states of NV0. We show that the effective three-electron system of NV0 leads to high correlation effects that make this system very challenging for ab initio simulations.
Nitrogen–vacancy (NV) center in diamond is one of the most promising candidates to implement room temperature quantum computing. In this review, we briefly discuss the working principles and recent experimental progresses of this spin qubit. These results focus on understanding and prolonging center spin coherence, steering and probing spin states with dedicated quantum control techniques, and exploiting the quantum nature of these multi-spin systems, such as superposition and entanglement, to demonstrate the superiority of quantum information processing. Those techniques also stimulate the fast development of NV-based quantum sensing, which is an interdisciplinary field with great potential applications.
The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy defect (NV)−^-− in diamond has attracted much attention in recent years in qubit and biological applications. The negative charge is donated from nearby nitrogen donors that could limit or stem the successful application of (NV)−^-−. In this Letter, we unambiguously identify the \emph{neutral} nitrogen-vacancy defect (NV0^00) by \emph{ab initio} supercell calculations. Our analysis shows that i) the spin state can be \emph{selectively} occupied optically, ii) the electron spin state can be manipulated by time-varying magnetic field, and iii) the spin state may be read out optically. Based on this NV0^00 is a new hope for realizing qubit in diamond \emph{without} the need of nitrogen donors.
The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy defect $({\text{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}})$ in diamond has attracted much attention in recent years in qubit and biological applications. The negative charge is donated from nearby nitrogen donors that could limit or stem the successful application of ${\text{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. In this study, we identify the neutral nitrogen-vacancy defect (NV0)({\text{NV}}^{0})(NV0) by ab initio supercell calculations through the comparison of the measured and calculated hyperfine tensors of the 4A2{^{4}A}_{2}4A2​ excited state. Our analysis shows that (i) the spin state can be selectively occupied optically, (ii) the electron spin state can be manipulated by time-varying magnetic field, and (iii) the spin state may be read out optically. Based on this NV0{\text{NV}}^{0}NV0 is a hope for realizing qubit in diamond without the need of nitrogen donors. In addition, we propose that NV0{\text{NV}}^{0}NV0 may be more sensitive magnetometer than the ultrasensitive ${\text{NV}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$.
The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centre is a unique defect in diamond that possesses properties highly suited to many applications, including quantum information processing, quantum metrology and biolabelling. Although the unique properties of the centre have been extensively documented and utilized, a detailed understanding of the physics of the centre has not yet been achieved. Indeed, there persist a number of points of contention regarding the electronic structure of the centre, such as the ordering of the dark intermediate singlet states. Without a detailed model of the centre's electronic structure, the understanding of the system's unique dynamical properties cannot effectively progress. In this work, the molecular model of the defect centre is fully developed to provide a self-consistent model of the complete electronic structure of the centre. The application of the model to describe the effects of electric, magnetic and strain interactions, as well as the variation of the centre's fine structure with temperature, provides an invaluable tool to those studying the centre and a means of designing future empirical and ab initio studies of this important defect.