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Physical Review B

Spectroscopy and coherence lifetime extension of hyperfine transitions in 151 Eu 3 + :Y 2 SiO 5

Andrea Arcangeli, Marko Lovrić, Biagio Tumino, Alban Ferrier, Philippe Goldner

Published May 28, 2014• 40 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report a low-temperature spectroscopic characterization of the ground-state hyperfine transitions in ${}^{151}\mathrm{Eu}{}^{3+}{\mathrm{:Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{SiO}}_{5}$ via coherent Raman scattering. Inhomogeneous linewidths of 21 and 38 kHz were measured for the ${I}_{z}=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{1}{2}$ $\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}$ $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{3}{2}$ and the $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{3}{2}$ $\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}$ $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{5}{2}$ ground-state transitions, respectively. Spin-echo decays were recorded for the ${I}_{z}=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{1}{2}$ $\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}$ $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{3}{2}$ transition at zero field and for a small static magnetic field. In the latter case, analysis by a simple model gave an amplitude of 284 Hz and a correlation time of 3.5 ms for the transition frequency fluctuations. Application of a dynamical decoupling sequence resulted in coherence lifetimes up to 474 ms, an 18-fold increase compared to the spin intrinsic phase memory time of 26 ms.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.89.184305

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We report a low-temperature spectroscopic characterization of the ground-state hyperfine transitions in 151Eu3+:Y2SiO5{}^{151}\mathrm{Eu}{}^{3+}{\mathrm{:Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{SiO}}_{5}151Eu3+:Y2​SiO5​ via coherent Raman scattering. Inhomogeneous linewidths of 21 and 38 kHz were measured for the Iz=\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi12{I}_{z}=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{1}{2}Iz​=\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi21​ \ensuremath↔\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}\ensuremath↔ \ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi32\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{3}{2}\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi23​ and the \ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi32\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{3}{2}\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi23​ \ensuremath↔\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}\ensuremath↔ \ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi52\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{5}{2}\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi25​ ground-state transitions, respectively. Spin-echo decays were recorded for the Iz=\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi12{I}_{z}=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{1}{2}Iz​=\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi21​ \ensuremath↔\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}\ensuremath↔ \ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi32\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{3}{2}\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi23​ transition at zero field and for a small static magnetic field. In the latter case, analysis by a simple model gave an amplitude of 284 Hz and a correlation time of 3.5 ms for the transition frequency fluctuations. Application of a dynamical decoupling sequence resulted in coherence lifetimes up to 474 ms, an 18-fold increase compared to the spin intrinsic phase memory time of 26 ms.
Spin echoes in the ground and an optically excited state of 167^{167}167Er3+^{3+}3+:Y2_22​SiO5_55​ at near-zero magnetic fields using Raman heterodyne spectroscopy
Erbium-167-doped yttrium orthosilicate is an ideal candidate for a microwave-addressed quantum memory due to its telecom wavelength optical transition and hyperfine structure with and without an applied magnetic field. However, to date there has been little investigation in coherence times for transitions around zero magnetic field, or for hyperfine structure other than from the ground state. Through the use of Raman heterodyne spectroscopy, we have identified transitions at zero magnetic field with a small dependence on field that are suitable for detecting spin echoes for both the ground and excited state. We measured coherence times of transitions at 879.4 MHz and 896.7 MHz as 370 μ\muμs and 1.4 ms respectively at 3.2 K. This is a 100-fold increase in coherence time compared to previous measurements at the same dopant concentration and 200 times greater than the even isotopes of erbium-doped yttrium orthosilicate previously used to demonstrate a microwave memory.
Detailed site-selective spectroscopy has been performed as a function of temperature on the ${}^{7}{F}_{0}{\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}}^{5}{D}_{0}$ transition of Eu3+:Y2SiO5{\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}:{\mathrm{Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{SiO}}_{5}Eu3+:Y2​SiO5​ for Eu3+{\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}Eu3+ concentrations of 0.02%, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1%. Time-domain optical dephasing, spectral hole lifetimes, anisotropic absorption coefficients, inhomogeneous linewidths, and fluorescence lifetimes for Eu3+{\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}Eu3+ ions at both crystallographic sites were measured. The temperature dependence of the optical dephasing, transition energy, and linewidth of the ${}^{7}{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{{F}_{0}}}^{5}{D}_{0}$ absorption was measured and interpreted in terms of Raman scattering of phonons. Photon echo measurements of optical dephasing gave T2{T}_{2}T2​ values as long as 2.6 ms, approaching the limit set by the fluorescence decay time. Spectral hole lifetimes were measured for temperatures from 2 K to 18 K, with observed lifetimes varying from 1 s at 18 K to an estimated value of greater than 20 days at 2 K. Anisotropic absorption coefficients were measured, and an increase in Eu3+{\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}Eu3+ concentration from 0.02% to 7% produced an increase in the inhomogeneous linewidth ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{\mathrm{inh}}$ from 0.5 GHz to \ensuremath{\sim}150 GHz, indicating that Eu3+{\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}Eu3+ doping induces significant strain in the crystal. New determinations of many energy levels of 7FJ{}^{7}{F}_{J}7FJ​ multiplets have been made for J=0J=0J=0 to 6.
Abstract We have measured inhomogeneous linewidths and coherence times ( T 2 ) of nuclear spin transitions in a Eu 3+ :Y 2 O 3 transparent ceramic by an all-optical spin echo technique. The nuclear spin echo decay curves showed a strong modulation which was attributed to interaction with Y nuclei in the host. The coherence time of the 29 MHz spin transition in 151 Eu 3+ was 16 ms in a small applied magnetic field. Temperature dependent measurements showed that the coherence time was constant up to 18 K and was limited by spin-lattice relaxation for higher temperatures. Nuclear spin echoes in 153 Eu 3+ gave much weaker signals than for the case of 151 Eu 3+ . The spin coherence time for the 73 MHz spin transition in 153 Eu 3+ was estimated to 14 ms in a small magnetic field. The study shows that the spin transitions of ceramic Eu 3+ :Y 2 O 3 have coherence properties comparable to the best rare-earth-doped materials available.
We report on Raman echo measurements of the 151Eu3+Y2SiO5 ground-state hyperfine transition. Using Raman echoes in zero magnetic field the ground-state hyperfine coherence time was observed to be (15.5±2) ms. When an external magnetic field was applied, the dephasing time of the hyperfine transition was observed to decay nonexponentially, with a decay rate of (36±4) ms. This nonexponential decay is indicative of the presence of spectral diffusion, similar to that observed in Pr3+:Y2SiO5. This work indicates that under favorable conditions we can expect hyperfine coherence times longer than the value of 30 s recently reported in Pr3+Y2SiO5.
Europium-doped crystal Y2SiO5{\mathrm{Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{SiO}}_{5}Y2​SiO5​ is an interesting platform for optical quantum memories, due to its long optical and spin coherence times. In this work, we investigate 151Eu3+:Y2SiO5{^{151}\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}:{\mathrm{Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{SiO}}_{5}151Eu3+:Y2​SiO5​ under the application of magnetic field, a complex system with 36 different optical-hyperfine transitions. We present a simple numerical simulator for calculating the effect of optical pumping schemes that allow the isolation of a single-frequency class of ions, applicable to any multilevel atom with inhomogeneous broadening. Experimentally, we develop methodologies for estimating the magnetic field vector, demonstrating high precision in predicting spectral features based on the known spin Hamiltonians. We measured the optical Rabi frequency of 21 transitions among the 36 possible optical-hyperfine transitions, allowing for the construction of a $6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}6$ branching ratio matrix of relative transition strengths. From the Rabi frequency measurements, we derive the optical dipole moment for the $^{7}F_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}^{5}D_{0}$ transition, yielding a value of $(6.94\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.09)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}33}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{C}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}$. Our results provide a critical test of the spin Hamiltonian models, demonstrating high precision in predicting energy levels and relative transition strengths, which are key abilities for quantum applications with 151Eu3+:Y2SiO5{^{151}\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}:{\mathrm{Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{SiO}}_{5}151Eu3+:Y2​SiO5​ under magnetic field.
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