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Universal enhancement of the optical readout fidelity of single electron spins at nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

M. Steiner, P. Neumann, J. Beck, F. Jelezko, and J. Wrachtrup
Phys. Rev. B 81, 035205 – Published 19 January 2010
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Abstract

Precise readout of spin states is crucial for any approach toward physical realization of a spin-based quantum computer and for magnetometry with single spins. Here, we report a method to strongly improve the optical readout fidelity of electron spin states associated with single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. The signal-to-noise ratio is enhanced significantly by performing conditional flip-flop processes between the electron spin and the nuclear spin of the NV center’s nitrogen atom. The enhanced readout procedure is triggered by a short preparatory pulse sequence. As the nitrogen nuclear spin is intrinsically present in the system, this method is universally applicable to any nitrogen-vacancy center. Besides the readout method, our studies included coherent control over a single nitrogen nuclear spin for the first time.

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  • Received 11 September 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.81.035205

©2010 American Physical Society

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Published 19 January 2010

The signal-to-noise ratio for room-temperature readout of individual qubits can be substantially improved by taking an indirect route through intermediate energy levels.

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Authors & Affiliations

M. Steiner, P. Neumann*, J. Beck, F. Jelezko, and J. Wrachtrup

  • 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany

  • *p.neumann@physik.uni-stuttgart.de
  • j.beck@physik.uni-stuttgart.de

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Issue

Vol. 81, Iss. 3 — 15 January 2010

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