Abstract
Using first-principles calculations and magnetic resonance experiments, we investigated the physical properties of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in 4H-SiC, a promising spin qubit. Our predictive theoretical model in conjunction with experimental measurements reveals a large sensitivity to strain and symmetry. The measured and computed zero-phonon lines (ZPLs) are in agreement and show a consistent trend as a function of the defect location in the crystal. The computed ZPLs are extremely sensitive to the geometrical configurations of the ground and excited states, and large supercells with more than 2 000 atoms are required to obtain accurate numerical results. We find that the computed decoherence time of the basal NV centers at zero magnetic field is substantially larger than that of the axial configurations. Furthermore, at natural nuclear spin abundance and zero field, the Hahn-echo coherence time of one of the basal configurations is similar to that of the axial divacancy in isotopically purified SiC.
- Received 15 May 2021
- Accepted 9 July 2021
- Corrected 29 July 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.074602
©2021 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Corrections
29 July 2021
Correction: A minor typographical error in Eq. (2) has been fixed.