• Open Access

Suppression of the Optical Linewidth and Spin Decoherence of a Quantum Spin Center in a p-n Diode

Denis R. Candido and Michael E. Flatté
PRX Quantum 2, 040310 – Published 15 October 2021

Abstract

We present a quantitative theory of the suppression of the optical linewidth due to charge fluctuation noise in a p-n diode, recently observed by Anderson et al. [Science 366, 1225 (2019)]. We connect the local electric field with the voltage across the diode, allowing the identification of the defect depth from the experimental threshold voltage. Furthermore, we show that an accurate description of the decoherence of such spin centers requires a complete spin-1 formalism that yields a biexponential decoherence process, and predict how reduced charge fluctuation noise suppresses the spin center’s decoherence rate.

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  • Received 27 September 2020
  • Revised 22 June 2021
  • Accepted 15 July 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.2.040310

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Denis R. Candido1,2,† and Michael E. Flatté1,2,3,*

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
  • 2Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • 3Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, Netherlands

  • *michael_flatte@mailaps.org
  • denisricardocandido@gmail.com

Popular Summary

An extensive search continues for materials and structures that resist fluctuations of their environment; such “coherent” properties are useful for quantum computation, for sensitive probes of electric, magnetic, or gravitational fields, and to network multiple quantum systems. For coherent spins associated with atomic-scale defects in solids, scalable control requires shifting the energies of the optical transitions used to initialize or read out the coherent quantum state of the defect, and removal of environmental contributions to optical linewidths is required to generate indistinguishable photons. Remarkable shifts and narrowing of the optical transition linewidths were recently achieved experimentally by embedding coherent divacancy spins in a silicon carbide electrical device; however, these demonstrations did not address the fundamental limits of this control or provide a predictive theory.

Here the theoretical foundation for understanding quantum coherence in solid-state qubits is provided. The shifts in optical transition energies and the reduction in optical linewidths are directly connected to fundamental properties of the electrical device, which reveals the importance of both charge fluctuations near the spin center and charge fluctuations in the device contacts. Far greater optical transition energy shifts are possible with different diode designs, and for similar systems increases in the spin coherence times are also predicted. The results identify a novel spin coherence regime fundamental to spin-1 defects in lattices with threefold symmetry and provide direct predictions of the effects of the fluctuating charges on this coherence. The clear set of predictive equations, calculations, and other results provided here will help the design of semiconductor electronic devices for fine control of the properties of quantum spin centers.

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Vol. 2, Iss. 4 — October - December 2021

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It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

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