In many important situations, the dominant dephasing mechanism in cryogenic rare-earth-metal-ion--doped systems is due to magnetic field fluctuations from spins in the host crystal. Operating at a magnetic field where a transition has a zero first-order Zeeman (ZEFOZ) shift can greatly reduce this dephasing. Here we identify the location of transitions with a zero first-order Zeeman shift for optical transitions in Pr ${}^{3+}$ :YAG and for spin transitions in Er ${}^{3+}$ :Y ${}_{2}$ SiO ${}_{5}$ . The long coherence times that ZEFOZ can enable would make Pr ${}^{3+}$ :YAG a strong candidate for achieving the strong-coupling regime of cavity QED, and would be an important step forward in creating long-lived telecommunications wavelength quantum memories in Er ${}^{3+}$ :Y ${}_{2}$ SiO ${}_{5}$ . This work relies mostly on published spin-Hamiltonian parameters, but Raman heterodyne spectroscopy was performed on Pr ${}^{3+}$ :YAG to measure the parameters for the excited state.In many important situations, the dominant dephasing mechanism in cryogenic rare-earth-metal-ion--doped systems is due to magnetic field fluctuations from spins in the host crystal. Operating at a magnetic field where a transition has a zero first-order Zeeman (ZEFOZ) shift can greatly reduce this dephasing. Here we identify the location of transitions with a zero first-order Zeeman shift for optical transitions in Pr${}^{3+}$:YAG and for spin transitions in Er${}^{3+}$:Y${}_{2}$SiO${}_{5}$. The long coherence times that ZEFOZ can enable would make Pr${}^{3+}$:YAG a strong candidate for achieving the strong-coupling regime of cavity QED, and would be an important step forward in creating long-lived telecommunications wavelength quantum memories in Er${}^{3+}$:Y${}_{2}$SiO${}_{5}$. This work relies mostly on published spin-Hamiltonian parameters, but Raman heterodyne spectroscopy was performed on Pr${}^{3+}$:YAG to measure the parameters for the excited state.

arXiv:1201.4610Physical Review AMar 30, 201261 citations

{}^{3+}

:YAG and for spin transitions in Er

{}^{3+}

{}_{2}

SiO

{}_{5}

. The long coherence times that ZEFOZ can enable would make Pr

{}^{3+}

:YAG a strong candidate for achieving the strong-coupling regime of cavity QED, and would be an important step forward in creating long-lived telecommunications wavelength quantum memories in Er

{}^{3+}

{}_{2}

SiO

{}_{5}

. This work relies mostly on published spin-Hamiltonian parameters, but Raman heterodyne spectroscopy was performed on Pr

{}^{3+}

:YAG to measure the parameters for the excited state.