Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Quantum control of hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits

Nature Materials volume 12, pages 103–107 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Pulsed magnetic resonance allows the quantum state of electronic and nuclear spins to be controlled on the timescale of nanoseconds and microseconds respectively1. The time required to flip dilute spins is orders of magnitude shorter than their coherence times2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, leading to several schemes for quantum information processing with spin qubits10,11,12,13. Instead, we investigate ‘hybrid nuclear–electronic’ qubits14,15 consisting of near 50:50 superpositions of the electronic and nuclear spin states. Using bismuth-doped silicon, we demonstrate quantum control over these states in 32 ns, which is orders of magnitude faster than previous experiments using pure nuclear states2,3. The coherence times of up to 4 ms are five orders of magnitude longer than the manipulation times, and are limited only by naturally occurring 29Si nuclear spin impurities. We find a quantitative agreement between our experiments and an analytical theory for the resonance positions, as well as their relative intensities and Rabi oscillation frequencies. These results bring spins in a solid material a step closer to research on ion-trap qubits10.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Spectroscopy of hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits.
Figure 2: Fast quantum control of hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits.
Figure 3: Coherence times of hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Schweiger, A. & Jeschke, G. Principles of Pulse Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (Oxford Univ. Press, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Morley, G. W. et al. The initialization and manipulation of quantum information stored in silicon by bismuth dopants. Nature Mater. 9, 725–729 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. George, R. E. et al. Electron spin coherence and electron nuclear double resonance of Bi donors in natural Si. Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 067601 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Tyryshkin, A. M. et al. Electron spin coherence exceeding seconds in high-purity silicon. Nature Mater. 11, 143–147 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Morton, J. J. L. et al. Solid-state quantum memory using the P-31 nuclear spin. Nature 455, 1085–1088 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Balasubramanian, G. et al. Ultralong spin coherence time in isotopically engineered diamond. Nature Mater. 8, 383–387 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Steger, M. et al. Quantum information storage for over 180 s using donor spins in a 28Si semiconductor vacuum. Science 336, 1280–1283 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Maurer, P. C. et al. Room-temperature quantum bit memory exceeding one second. Science 336, 1283–1286 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Weis, C. D. et al. Electrical activation and electron spin resonance measurements of implanted bismuth in isotopically enriched silicon-28. Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 172104 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ladd, T. D. et al. Quantum computers. Nature 464, 45–53 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Morton, J. J. L., McCamey, D. R., Eriksson, M. A. & Lyon, S. A. Embracing the quantum limit in silicon computing. Nature 479, 345–353 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Stoneham, A. M., Fisher, A. J. & Greenland, P. T. Optically driven silicon-based quantum gates with potential for high-temperature operation. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 15, L447–L451 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Koenraad, P. M. & Flatté, M. E. Single dopants in semiconductors. Nature Mater. 10, 91–100 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Mohammady, M. H., Morley, G. W., Nazir, A. & Monteiro, T. S. Analysis of quantum coherence in bismuth-doped silicon: A system of strongly coupled spin qubits. Phys. Rev. B 85, 094404 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mohammady, M. H., Morley, G. W. & Monteiro, T. S. Bismuth qubits in silicon: The role of EPR cancellation resonances. Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 067602 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Morello, A. et al. Single-shot readout of an electron spin in silicon. Nature 467, 687–691 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Takahashi, S. et al. Decoherence in crystals of quantum molecular magnets. Nature 476, 76–79 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Makhonin, M. N. et al. Fast control of nuclear spin polarization in an optically pumped single quantum dot. Nature Mater. 10, 844–848 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Maune, B. M. et al. Coherent singlet-triplet oscillations in a silicon-based double quantum dot. Nature 481, 344–347 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Belli, M., Fanciulli, M. & Abrosimov, N. V. Pulse electron spin resonance investigation of bismuth-doped silicon: Relaxation and electron spin echo envelope modulation. Phys. Rev. B 83, 235204 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Sekiguchi, T. et al. Hyperfine structure and nuclear hyperpolarization observed in the bound exciton luminescence of Bi donors in natural Si. Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 137402 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Feher, G. Electron spin resonance experiments on donors in silicon. I. Electronic structure of donors by the electron nuclear double resonance technique. Phys. Rev. 114, 1219–1244 (1959).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Castner, T. G. Raman spin-lattice relaxation of shallow donors in silicon. Phys. Rev. 130, 58–75 (1963).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Du, J. et al. Preserving electron spin coherence in solids by optimal dynamical decoupling. Nature 461, 1265–1268 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Yang, W. & Liu, R. B. Quantum many-body theory of qubit decoherence in a finite-size spin bath. Phys. Rev. B 78, 085315 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Rønnow, H. M. et al. Quantum phase transition of a magnet in a spin bath. Science 308, 389–392 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Willer, M. et al. S-band (2–4 GHz) pulse electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer: Construction, probe head design, and performance. Rev. Scient. Instrum. 71, 2807–2817 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lenahan, P. M. & Conley, J. F. What can electron paramagnetic resonance tell us about the Si/SiO2 system? J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 16, 2134–2153 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Morishita, H. et al. Electrical detection and magnetic-field control of spin states in phosphorus-doped silicon. Phys. Rev. B 80, 205206 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Mitrikas, G., Sanakis, Y. & Papavassiliou, G. Ultrafast control of nuclear spins using only microwave pulses: Towards switchable solid-state quantum gates. Phys. Rev. A 81, 020305 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Bernard Pajot for the Si:Bi crystal used here, R. Tschaggelar for technical assistance, the National EPR Facility and Service at the University of Manchester, UK, for initial continuous-wave experiments at 4 GHz and the EPSRC COMPASSS grant. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. G.W.M. is supported by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and the Royal Society.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Gavin W. Morley

    Present address: Present address: Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK

    Gavin W. Morley, M. Hamed Mohammady, Setrak J. Balian, Gabriel Aeppli & Tania S. Monteiro

  2. London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, UK

    Gavin W. Morley, Gabriel Aeppli & Christopher W. M. Kay

  3. Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland

    Petra Lueders & Gunnar Jeschke

  4. Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK

    Christopher W. M. Kay

  5. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA

    Wayne M. Witzel

Authors
  1. Gavin W. Morley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Petra Lueders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Hamed Mohammady
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Setrak J. Balian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gabriel Aeppli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Christopher W. M. Kay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Wayne M. Witzel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Gunnar Jeschke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Tania S. Monteiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

G.W.M. and T.S.M. designed the study within the overall research programme on Si:Bi defined by C.W.M.K. and G.A., and wrote the paper with input and corrections from all authors. P.L. performed the experiments with assistance from G.W.M. and M.H.M., and supervision from G.J. G.W.M. analysed the data. S.J.B. and W.M.W. performed the cluster correlation expansion simulations.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gavin W. Morley.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 926 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morley, G., Lueders, P., Hamed Mohammady, M. et al. Quantum control of hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits. Nature Mater 12, 103–107 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3499

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3499

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing