Abstract We employ the electronic spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect in diamond to detect and control the quantum state of remote nuclear spins coupled by hyperfine interaction. More precisely, our work focuses on individual $^{13}\text {C}$ 13 C nuclei featuring a moderate hyperfine coupling strength ( $\sim 1$ ∼ 1 MHz) with the NV’s electron spin. Two different methods providing an efficient room-temperature polarization of these peculiar $^{13}\text {C}$ 13 C nuclear spins are described. The first one is based on a polarization transfer from the NV electron spin to the $^{13}\text {C}$ 13 C nucleus, which is mediated by the anisotropic component of the hyperfine interaction. The second one relies on coherent population trapping (CPT) within a $\Lambda$ Λ -type energy-level configuration in the microwave domain, which enables to initialize the $^{13}\text {C}$ 13 C nuclear spin in any quantum state superposition on the Bloch sphere. This CPT protocol is performed in an unusual regime for which relaxation from the excited level of the $\Lambda$ Λ -scheme is externally triggered by optical pumping and separated in time from coherent microwave excitations. For these two polarization techniques, we investigate the impact of optical illumination on the nuclear spin polarization efficiency. This work adds new methods to the quantum toolbox used for coherent control of individual nuclear spins in diamond, which might find applications in quantum metrology. Graphical AbstractAbstract We employ the electronic spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect in diamond to detect and control the quantum state of remote nuclear spins coupled by hyperfine interaction. More precisely, our work focuses on individual $$^{13}\text {C}$$ 13 C nuclei featuring a moderate hyperfine coupling strength ( $$\sim 1$$ ∼ 1 MHz) with the NV’s electron spin. Two different methods providing an efficient room-temperature polarization of these peculiar $$^{13}\text {C}$$ 13 C nuclear spins are described. The first one is based on a polarization transfer from the NV electron spin to the $$^{13}\text {C}$$ 13 C nucleus, which is mediated by the anisotropic component of the hyperfine interaction. The second one relies on coherent population trapping (CPT) within a $$\Lambda $$ Λ -type energy-level configuration in the microwave domain, which enables to initialize the $$^{13}\text {C}$$ 13 C nuclear spin in any quantum state superposition on the Bloch sphere. This CPT protocol is performed in an unusual regime for which relaxation from the excited level of the $$\Lambda $$ Λ -scheme is externally triggered by optical pumping and separated in time from coherent microwave excitations. For these two polarization techniques, we investigate the impact of optical illumination on the nuclear spin polarization efficiency. This work adds new methods to the quantum toolbox used for coherent control of individual nuclear spins in diamond, which might find applications in quantum metrology. Graphical Abstract

The European Physical Journal DNov 1, 20223 citations

Nuclear-spin-dependent coherent population trapping of single nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

D. Andrew Golter, Khodadad N. Dinyari, Hailin Wang

Coherent population trapping (CPT) provides a highly sensitive means for probing the energy-level structure of an atomic system. For a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, the CPT offers an alternative to the standard optically detected magnetic resonance method for measuring the hyperfine structure of the electronic ground states. We show that the nuclear-spin-dependent CPT measures directly the hyperfine splitting of these states due to the ${}^{14}$ N nuclear spin. The CPT spectral response obtained in the presence of a strong microwave field, resonant or nearly resonant with a ground-state spin transition, maps out the dynamic Stark splitting induced by the coherent spin excitation.Coherent population trapping (CPT) provides a highly sensitive means for probing the energy-level structure of an atomic system. For a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, the CPT offers an alternative to the standard optically detected magnetic resonance method for measuring the hyperfine structure of the electronic ground states. We show that the nuclear-spin-dependent CPT measures directly the hyperfine splitting of these states due to the ${}^{14}$N nuclear spin. The CPT spectral response obtained in the presence of a strong microwave field, resonant or nearly resonant with a ground-state spin transition, maps out the dynamic Stark splitting induced by the coherent spin excitation.

arXiv:1303.0421Physical Review AMar 1, 201320 citations

Coherent manipulation of single electronic and nuclear spins in diamond

Lilian Childress

Bulletin of the American Physical SocietyMay 28, 20080 citations

Room-temperature coherent coupling of single spins in diamond

T. Gaebel, Michael Domhan, I. Popa +11 more

arXiv:quant-ph/0605038Nature PhysicsMay 28, 2006587 citations

^{13}\text {C}

13 C nuclei featuring a moderate hyperfine coupling strength (

\sim 1

∼ 1 MHz) with the NV’s electron spin. Two different methods providing an efficient room-temperature polarization of these peculiar

^{13}\text {C}

13 C nuclear spins are described. The first one is based on a polarization transfer from the NV electron spin to the

^{13}\text {C}

13 C nucleus, which is mediated by the anisotropic component of the hyperfine interaction. The second one relies on coherent population trapping (CPT) within a

\Lambda

Λ -type energy-level configuration in the microwave domain, which enables to initialize the

^{13}\text {C}

13 C nuclear spin in any quantum state superposition on the Bloch sphere. This CPT protocol is performed in an unusual regime for which relaxation from the excited level of the

\Lambda

Λ -scheme is externally triggered by optical pumping and separated in time from coherent microwave excitations. For these two polarization techniques, we investigate the impact of optical illumination on the nuclear spin polarization efficiency. This work adds new methods to the quantum toolbox used for coherent control of individual nuclear spins in diamond, which might find applications in quantum metrology. Graphical Abstract

{}^{14}

N nuclear spin. The CPT spectral response obtained in the presence of a strong microwave field, resonant or nearly resonant with a ground-state spin transition, maps out the dynamic Stark splitting induced by the coherent spin excitation.