Decoherence of VB− spin defects in monoisotopic hexagonal boron nitride

Spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are promising quantum systems for the design of flexible two-dimensional quantum sensing platforms. Here we rely on hBN crystals isotopically enriched with either 10 B or 11 B to investigate the isotope-dependent properties of a spin defect featuring a b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2022-07, Vol.13 (1)
Main Authors: Haykal, A., Tanos, R., Minotto, N., Durand, A., Fabre, F., Li, J., Edgar, J. H., Ivády, V., Gali, A., Michel, T., Dréau, A., Gil, B., Cassabois, G., Jacques, V.
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Language:English
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Summary:Spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are promising quantum systems for the design of flexible two-dimensional quantum sensing platforms. Here we rely on hBN crystals isotopically enriched with either 10 B or 11 B to investigate the isotope-dependent properties of a spin defect featuring a broadband photoluminescence signal in the near infrared. By analyzing the hyperfine structure of the spin defect while changing the boron isotope, we first confirm that it corresponds to the negatively charged boron-vacancy center ( V B − ). We then show that its spin coherence properties are slightly improved in 10 B-enriched samples. This is supported by numerical simulations employing cluster correlation expansion methods, which reveal the importance of the hyperfine Fermi contact term for calculating the coherence time of point defects in hBN. Using cross-relaxation spectroscopy, we finally identify dark electron spin impurities as an additional source of decoherence. This work provides new insights into the properties of V B − spin defects, which are valuable for the future development of hBN-based quantum sensing foils. Recently, coherent control of spin defects in hBN has been realized, enabling future applications in quantum sensing technologies. Here the authors perform a systematic study of isotope-dependent spin coherence properties of the negatively-charged boron-vacancy defect in monoisotopic hBN crystals.
ISSN:2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-31743-0