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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Coherent control of a single nitrogen-vacancy center spin in optically levitated nanodiamond

Robert M. Pettit, Levi P. Neukirch, Yi Zhang, A. Nick Vamivakas

Published May 11, 2017• 37 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the first observation, to the best of our knowledge, of electron spin transients in single negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV−) centers, contained within optically trapped nanodiamonds, in both atmospheric pressure and low vacuum. It is shown that, after an initial exposure to low vacuum, the trapped nanodiamonds remain at temperatures near room temperature even in low vacuum. Furthermore, the transverse coherence time of the NV− center spin, measured to be T2=101.4 ns, is robust over the range of trapping powers considered in this study.

DOI
10.1364/josab.34.000c31

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We present what we believe to be the first evidence of nitrogen vacancy (NV) photoluminescence (PL) from a nanodiamond suspended in a free-space optical dipole trap at atmospheric pressure. The PL rates are shown to decrease with increasing trap laser power, but are inconsistent with a thermal quenching process. For a continuous-wave trap, the neutral charge state (NV(0)) appears to be suppressed. Chopping the trap laser yields higher total count rates and results in a mixture of both NV(0) and the negative charge state (NV(-).
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The use of optical tweezers as a tool to facilitate nondestructive nanoscale sensing has been a growing area of research, particularly in the biological sciences. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond has attracted significant interest in this area due to the array of sensing modalities available and the biocompatibility of the material itself. Many of the diamond sensing modalities rely on the measurement and characterization of the NV spin. Recent work has demonstrated the utility of the spin–lattice relaxation time ( T 1 ) of NV centers in nanodiamond for nanoscale magnetic sensing and spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate spin relaxometry with optically trapped nanodiamonds. The all-optical sensing protocol we developed eliminates the spin decoherence effects of the trapping laser and can determine spin–lattice relaxation times on the order of ms. Moreover, the protocol requires relatively low trapping powers <50 mW, making it particularly applicable to biological systems.
The room temperature compatibility of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV−) center in diamond makes it the ideal quantum system for a university teaching lab. Here, we describe a low-cost experimental setup for coherent control experiments on the electronic spin state of the NV− center. We implement spin-relaxation measurements, optically detected magnetic resonance, Rabi oscillations, and dynamical decoupling sequences on an ensemble of NV− centers. The relatively short times required to perform each of these experiments (<10 min) demonstrate the feasibility of the setup in a teaching lab. Learning outcomes include basic understanding of quantum spin systems, magnetic resonance, the rotating frame, Bloch spheres, and pulse sequence development.
The room temperature compatibility of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) center in diamond makes it the ideal quantum system for a university teaching lab. Here, we describe a low-cost experimental setup for coherent control experiments on the electronic spin state of the NV- center. We implement spin-relaxation measurements, optically detected magnetic resonance, Rabi oscillations, and dynamical decoupling sequences on an ensemble of NV- centers. The relatively short times required to perform each of these experiments (<10 min) demonstrate the feasibility of the setup in a teaching lab. Learning outcomes include basic understanding of quantum spin systems, magnetic resonance, the rotating frame, Bloch spheres, and pulse sequence development.
We propose a scheme to realize the controlled-phase gates between nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in an optically trapped nanodiamond, through a uniform magnetic field-induced coupling between the NV centers and the torsional mode of the levitated nanodiamond. The gates are insensitive to the thermal noise of the torsional mode. By combining the scheme with the dynamical decoupling, it is found that the high-fidelity universal quantum gates are possible with present experimental technology. The proposed scheme is useful for an NV-center-based quantum network and distributed quantum computation.