Article abstract


Nature Physics 2, 408 - 413 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nphys318

Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Information theory and computation | Quantum physics

Room-temperature coherent coupling of single spins in diamond

Torsten Gaebel1, Michael Domhan1, Iulian Popa1, Christoffer Wittmann1, Philipp Neumann1, Fedor Jelezko1, James R. Rabeau2, Nikolas Stavrias2, Andrew D. Greentree3, Steven Prawer2,3, Jan Meijer4, Jason Twamley5, Philip R. Hemmer6 and Jörg Wrachtrup1


Coherent coupling between single quantum objects is at the very heart of modern quantum physics. When the coupling is strong enough to prevail over decoherence, it can be used to engineer quantum entangled states. Entangled states have attracted widespread attention because of applications to quantum computing and long-distance quantum communication. For such applications, solid-state hosts are preferred for scalability reasons, and spins are the preferred quantum system in solids because they offer long coherence times. Here we show that a single pair of strongly coupled spins in diamond, associated with a nitrogen-vacancy defect and a nitrogen atom, respectively, can be optically initialized and read out at room temperature. To effect this strong coupling, close proximity of the two spins is required, but large distances from other spins are needed to avoid deleterious decoherence. These requirements were reconciled by implanting molecular nitrogen into high-purity diamond.

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  1. 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany
  2. School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
  3. Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
  4. Central Laboratory of Ion Beam and Radionuclides, Ruhr University, 44801 Bochum, Germany
  5. Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia
  6. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas 77843-3128, USA

Correspondence to: Fedor Jelezko1 e-mail: f.jelezko@physik.uni-stuttgart.de

Correspondence to: Jörg Wrachtrup1 e-mail: j.wrachtrup@physik.uni-stuttgart.de


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