Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:quant-ph/0607147 · Physical Review Letters

Coherent Population Trapping of Single Spins in Diamond under Optical Excitation

Charles Santori, Philippe Tamarat, Philipp Neumann, Jörg Wrachtrup, David A. Fattal, Raymond G. Beausoleil, J. R. Rabeau, P. Olivero, Andrew D. Greentree, Steven Prawer, Fedor Jelezko, Philip Hemmer

Published Dec 13, 2006• 281 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Coherent population trapping is demonstrated in single nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under optical excitation. For sufficient excitation power, the fluorescence intensity drops almost to the background level when the laser modulation frequency matches the 2.88 GHz splitting of the ground states. The results are well described theoretically by a four-level model, allowing the relative transition strengths to be determined for individual centers. The results show that all-optical control of single spins is possible in diamond.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.97.247401

Related papers

Coherent population trapping in diamond N-V centers at zero magnetic field

Charles Santori, David A. Fattal, Sean M. Spillane +11 more

Coherent population trapping at zero magnetic field was observed for nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under optical excitation. This was measured as a reduction in photoluminescence when the detuning between two excitation lasers matched the 2.88 GHz crystal-field splitting of the color center ground states. This behavior is highly sensitive to strain, which modifies the excited states, and was unexpected following recent experiments demonstrating optical readout of single nitrogen-vacancy electron spins based on cycling transitions. These results demonstrate for the first time that three-level Lambda configurations suitable for proposed quantum information applications can be realized simultaneously for all four orientations of nitrogen-vacancy centers at zero magnetic field.

arXiv:cond-mat/0602573•Optics Express•Jan 1, 2006•107 citations

Optical manipulation of single spins in diamond

Charles Santori, Philippe Tamarat, Philipp Neumann +9 more

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond typically have spin-conserving optical transitions, a feature which allows for optical detection of the long-lived electronic spin states through fluorescence detection. However, by applying stress to a sample it is possible to obtain spin-nonconserving transitions in which a single excited state couples to multiple ground states. Here we describe two-frequency optical spectroscopy on single nitrogen-vacancy centers in a high-purity diamond sample at low temperature. When stress is applied to the sample it is possible to observe coherent population trapping with a single center. By adjusting the stress it is possible to obtain a situation in which all of the transitions from the three ground sublevels to a common excited state are strongly allowed. These results show that all-optical spin manipulation is possible for this system, and we propose that that by coupling single centers to optical microcavities, a scalable quantum network could be realized for photonic quantum information processing.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Feb 8, 2007•2 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.

arXiv:1303.0421•Physical Review A•Mar 1, 2013•20 citations

Spin Coherence during Optical Excitation of a Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond

Gregory D. Fuchs, Abram L. Falk, V. V. Dobrovitski +1 more

We examine the quantum spin state of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond at room temperature as it makes a transition from the orbital ground state (GS) to the orbital excited state (ES) during nonresonant optical excitation. While the fluorescence readout of NV-center spins relies on conservation of the longitudinal spin projection during optical excitation, the question of quantum phase preservation has not been examined. Using Ramsey measurements and quantum process tomography of the optical excitation process, we measure a trace fidelity of F=0.87±0.03, which includes ES spin dephasing during measurement. Extrapolation to the moment of optical excitation yields F≈0.95. This result provides insight into the interaction between spin coherence and nonresonant optical absorption through a vibronic sideband.

arXiv:1111.3687•Physical Review Letters•Apr 12, 2012•34 citations

Optimal quantum optical control of spin in diamond

Jiazhao Tian, Tianyi Du, Yu Liu +4 more

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spin represents an appealing candidate for quantum information processing. Besides the widely used microwave control, its coherent manipulation may also be achieved using a laser as mediated by the excited energy levels. Nevertheless, the multiple levels of the excited state of the NV center spin make the coherent transition process become complex and may affect the fidelity of coherent manipulation. Here, we adopt the strategy of optimal quantum control to accelerate coherent-state transfer in the ground-state manifold of the NV center spin using a laser. The results demonstrate improved performance in both the speed and the fidelity of coherent-state transfer which will be useful for optical control of the NV center spin in diamond.

arXiv:2204.13984•Physical Review A•Jul 11, 2019•21 citations

Fluorescence Correlation and Low Temperature Linewidth of Single Defect Centers in Diamond

A. Dräbenstedt, C. Tietz, Fedor Jelezko +3 more

Low temperature fluorescence excitation spectroscopy was carried out on single , nitrogen vacancy defect centers.At temperatures below 90, K; the fluorescence intensity of individual centers drastically diminishes because of the population of a metastable singlet state in near resonance with the .optically excited state.Low temperature fluorescence excitation spectroscopy , down to 5 K becomes possible via deshelving of this state with a second laser source.Surprisingly individual centers reveal low temperature fluorescence excitation line widths around 0.6 meV.

Acta Physica Polonica A•Nov 1, 1999•8 citations
Coherent population trapping is demonstrated in single nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under optical excitation. For sufficient excitation power, the fluorescence intensity drops almost to the background level when the laser modulation frequency matches the 2.88 GHz splitting of the ground states. The results are well described theoretically by a four-level model, allowing the relative transition strengths to be determined for individual centers. The results show that all-optical control of single spins is possible in diamond.
Coherent population trapping at zero magnetic field was observed for nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under optical excitation. This was measured as a reduction in photoluminescence when the detuning between two excitation lasers matched the 2.88 GHz crystal-field splitting of the color center ground states. This behavior is highly sensitive to strain, which modifies the excited states, and was unexpected following recent experiments demonstrating optical readout of single nitrogen-vacancy electron spins based on cycling transitions. These results demonstrate for the first time that three-level Lambda configurations suitable for proposed quantum information applications can be realized simultaneously for all four orientations of nitrogen-vacancy centers at zero magnetic field.
Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond typically have spin-conserving optical transitions, a feature which allows for optical detection of the long-lived electronic spin states through fluorescence detection. However, by applying stress to a sample it is possible to obtain spin-nonconserving transitions in which a single excited state couples to multiple ground states. Here we describe two-frequency optical spectroscopy on single nitrogen-vacancy centers in a high-purity diamond sample at low temperature. When stress is applied to the sample it is possible to observe coherent population trapping with a single center. By adjusting the stress it is possible to obtain a situation in which all of the transitions from the three ground sublevels to a common excited state are strongly allowed. These results show that all-optical spin manipulation is possible for this system, and we propose that that by coupling single centers to optical microcavities, a scalable quantum network could be realized for photonic quantum information processing.
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{}^{14}14N 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.
We examine the quantum spin state of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond at room temperature as it makes a transition from the orbital ground state (GS) to the orbital excited state (ES) during nonresonant optical excitation. While the fluorescence readout of NV-center spins relies on conservation of the longitudinal spin projection during optical excitation, the question of quantum phase preservation has not been examined. Using Ramsey measurements and quantum process tomography of the optical excitation process, we measure a trace fidelity of F=0.87±0.03, which includes ES spin dephasing during measurement. Extrapolation to the moment of optical excitation yields F≈0.95. This result provides insight into the interaction between spin coherence and nonresonant optical absorption through a vibronic sideband.
The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spin represents an appealing candidate for quantum information processing. Besides the widely used microwave control, its coherent manipulation may also be achieved using a laser as mediated by the excited energy levels. Nevertheless, the multiple levels of the excited state of the NV center spin make the coherent transition process become complex and may affect the fidelity of coherent manipulation. Here, we adopt the strategy of optimal quantum control to accelerate coherent-state transfer in the ground-state manifold of the NV center spin using a laser. The results demonstrate improved performance in both the speed and the fidelity of coherent-state transfer which will be useful for optical control of the NV center spin in diamond.
Low temperature fluorescence excitation spectroscopy was carried out on single , nitrogen vacancy defect centers.At temperatures below 90, K; the fluorescence intensity of individual centers drastically diminishes because of the population of a metastable singlet state in near resonance with the .optically excited state.Low temperature fluorescence excitation spectroscopy , down to 5 K becomes possible via deshelving of this state with a second laser source.Surprisingly individual centers reveal low temperature fluorescence excitation line widths around 0.6 meV.