Abstract
We report on optical detection of a single photostable ion in an yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) crystal and on its magneto-optical properties at room temperature. The spin quantum state of the emitting level of a single cerium ion in YAG can be initialized by a circularly polarized laser pulse. Coherent precession of the electron spin is read out by observing temporal behavior of circularly polarized fluorescence of the ion. This implies direct mapping of the spin quantum state of ion onto the polarization state of the emitted photon and represents the quantum interface between a single spin and a single photon.
- Received 10 February 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.120502
© 2013 American Physical Society