Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond with coherent optical transitions are a promising candidate for quantum science and technology protocols. A widely used strategy for their creation is nitrogen-ion implantation and high-temperature annealing. The data presented in this work show that while low-strain, narrow-optical-linewidth NV centers are formed from naturally occurring
14N atoms, NV centers formed from the implanted
15N atoms show broadened optical transitions and experience higher strain. These results have immediate implications for the positioning accuracy of current NV center creation protocols.
We study coherent laser-induced optical behaviors in weak twin-light propagation through strained diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers via switching on and off an external magnetic field. By numerically solving the coupled Bloch-Maxwell equations for NV center and field simultaneously in space and time, we address dynamic control of pulse propagation and magneto-optic dual switching in such a laser-driven NV center system. The proposed scheme may have applications in the design of magneto-optic switching and magneto-optic storage devices.
We study the resonant optical transitions of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center that is coherently dressed by a strong mechanical drive. Using a gigahertz-frequency diamond mechanical resonator that is strain coupled to a NV center's orbital states, we demonstrate coherent Raman sidebands out to the ninth order and orbital-phonon interactions that mix the two excited-state orbital branches. These interactions are spectroscopically revealed through a multiphonon Rabi splitting of the orbital branches which scales as a function of resonator driving amplitude and is successfully reproduced in a quantum model. Finally, we discuss the application of mechanical driving to engineering NV-center orbital states.