Christopher G. Yale

Homoepitaxial Growth of Single Crystal Diamond Membranes for Quantum Information Processing

Homoepitaxial growth of single crystal diamond membranes is demonstrated employing a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition technique. The membranes possess excellent structural, optical, and spin properties, which make them suitable for fabrication of optical microcavities for applications in quantum information processing, photonics, spintronics, and sensing.

All-optical control of a solid-state spin using coherent dark states

The study of individual quantum systems in solids, for use as quantum bits (qubits) and probes of decoherence, requires protocols for their initialization, unitary manipulation, and readout. In many solid-state quantum systems, these operations rely on disparate techniques that can vary widely depending on the particular qubit structure. One such qubit, the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spin in diamond, can be initialized and read out through its special spin-selective intersystem crossing, while microwave electron spin resonance techniques provide unitary spin rotations. Instead, we demonstrate an alternative, fully optical approach to these control protocols in an NV center that does not rely on its intersystem crossing. By tuning an NV center to an excited-state spin anticrossing at cryogenic temperatures, we use coherent population trapping and stimulated Raman techniques to realize initialization, readout, and unitary manipulation of a single spin. Each of these techniques can be performed directly along any arbitrarily chosen quantum basis, removing the need for extra control steps to map the spin to and from a preferred basis. Combining these protocols, we perform measurements of the NV center’s spin coherence, a demonstration of this full optical control. Consisting solely of optical pulses, these techniques enable control within a smaller footprint and within photonic networks. Likewise, this unified approach obviates the need for both electron spin resonance manipulation and spin addressability through the intersystem crossing. This method could therefore be applied to a wide range of potential solid-state qubits, including those which currently lack a means to be addressed.

Electrical tuning of single nitrogen-vacancy center optical transitions enhanced by photoinduced fields.

We demonstrate precise control over the zero-phonon optical transition energies of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond by applying multiaxis electric fields, via the dc Stark effect. The Stark shifts display surprising asymmetries that we attribute to an enhancement and rectification of the local electric field by photoionized charge traps in the diamond. Using this effect, we tune the excited-state orbitals of strained NV centers to degeneracy and vary the resulting degenerate optical transition frequency by >10 GHz, a scale comparable to the inhomogeneous frequency distribution. This technique will facilitate the integration of NV-center spins within photonic networks.

Accelerated quantum control using superadiabatic dynamics in a solid-state lambda system

Adiabatic processes are useful in quantum control, but they are slow. A way around this is to exploit shortcuts to adiabaticity, which can speed things up — for instance, by boosting stimulated Raman adiabatic passage. Adiabatic processes are useful for quantum technologies1,2,3 but, despite their robustness to experimental imperfections, they remain susceptible to decoherence due to their long evolution time. A general strategy termed shortcuts to adiabaticity4,5,6,7,8,9 (STA) aims to remedy this vulnerability by designing fast dynamics to reproduce the results of a slow, adiabatic evolution. Here, we implement an STA technique known as superadiabatic transitionless driving10 (SATD) to speed up stimulated Raman adiabatic passage1,11,12,13,14 in a solid-state lambda system. Using the optical transitions to a dissipative excited state in the nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond, we demonstrate the accelerated performance of different shortcut trajectories for population transfer and for the initialization and transfer of coherent superpositions. We reveal that SATD protocols exhibit robustness to dissipation and experimental uncertainty, and can be optimized when these effects are present. These results suggest that STA could be effective for controlling a variety of solid-state open quantum systems11,12,13,14,15,16.

Ultrafast optical control of orbital and spin dynamics in a solid-state defect

Manipulating a defect in diamond Like magnetic storage in todays classical computers, tiny “magnets” associated with electronic and nuclear states—spins—are promising qubits (quantum bits) for the future. Electronic spins in special defects in diamond called nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers are one example. Whereas most applications focus on the least energetic (ground) state of an NV center, Bassett et al. explored the properties of the higher-energy (excited) state (see the Perspective by Childress). They used light pulses to bring the system into the excited state and to vary the time it stayed there. In this way, they could both deduce the electronic structure of the excited state and manipulate the ground state spin. Similar methods may be applicable to other quantum information systems. Science, this issue p. 1333; see also p. 1247 The electronic spin in a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond is manipulated with optical pulses alone. [Also see Perspective by Childress] Atom-scale defects in semiconductors are promising building blocks for quantum devices, but our understanding of their material-dependent electronic structure, optical interactions, and dissipation mechanisms is lacking. Using picosecond resonant pulses of light, we study the coherent orbital and spin dynamics of a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond over time scales spanning six orders of magnitude. We develop a time-domain quantum tomography technique to precisely map the defect’s excited-state Hamiltonian and exploit the excited-state dynamics to control its ground-state spin with optical pulses alone. These techniques generalize to other optically addressable nanoscale spin systems and serve as powerful tools to characterize and control spin qubits for future applications in quantum technology.

Optical manipulation of the Berry phase in a solid-state spin qubit

Phase relations between quantum states represent a resource for storing and processing quantum information. Although quantum phases are commonly controlled dynamically by tuning energetic interactions, the use of geometric phases that accumulate during cyclic evolution may offer superior robustness to noise. To date, demonstrations of geometric phase in solid-state systems employ microwave fields that have limited spatial resolution. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical method to accumulate a geometric phase, the Berry phase, in an individual nitrogen–vacancy centre in diamond. Using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage controlled by diffraction-limited laser light, we loop the nitrogen–vacancy centres spin around the Bloch sphere to enclose an arbitrary Berry phase. We investigate the limits of this control due to the loss of adiabaticity and decoherence, as well as its robustness to noise introduced into the experimental control parameters. These techniques set the foundation for optical geometric manipulation in photonic networks of solid-state qubits linked and controlled by light. An all-optical manipulation of the Berry phase based on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage is demonstrated in an individual nitrogen–vacancy centre in diamond. The adiabatic control is 100 times faster than that demonstrated before in atomic systems.

Control of spin defects in wide-bandgap semiconductors for quantum technologies

Deep-level defects are usually considered undesirable in semiconductors as they typically interfere with the performance of present-day electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the electronic spin states of certain atomic-scale defects have recently been shown to be promising quantum bits for quantum information processing as well as exquisite nanoscale sensors due to their local environmental sensitivity. In this review, we will discuss recent advances in quantum control protocols of several of these spin defects, the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) center in diamond and a variety of forms of the neutral divacancy (VV0) complex in silicon carbide (SiC). These defects exhibit a spin-triplet ground state that can be controlled through a variety of techniques, several of which allow for room temperature operation. Microwave control has enabled sophisticated decoupling schemes to extend coherence times as well as nanoscale sensing of temperature along with magnetic and electric fields. On the other hand, photonic control of these spin states has provided initial steps toward integration into quantum networks, including entanglement, quantum state teleportation, and all-optical control. Electrical and mechanical control also suggest pathways to develop quantum transducers and quantum hybrid systems. The versatility of the control mechanisms demonstrated should facilitate the development of quantum technologies based on these spin defects.