Dynamic polarization of single nuclear spins by optical pumping of nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond at room temperature

We report a versatile method to polarize single nuclear spins in diamond, based on optical pumping of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect and mediated by a level anticrossing in its excited state. A nuclear-spin polarization higher than 98% is achieved at room temperature for the 15N nuclear spin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2009-02, Vol.102 (5), p.057403-057403, Article 057403
Main Authors: Jacques, V, Neumann, P, Beck, J, Markham, M, Twitchen, D, Meijer, J, Kaiser, F, Balasubramanian, G, Jelezko, F, Wrachtrup, J
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We report a versatile method to polarize single nuclear spins in diamond, based on optical pumping of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect and mediated by a level anticrossing in its excited state. A nuclear-spin polarization higher than 98% is achieved at room temperature for the 15N nuclear spin associated with the NV center, corresponding to microK effective nuclear-spin temperature. We then show simultaneous initialization of two nuclear spins in the vicinity of a NV defect. Such robust control of nuclear-spin states is a key ingredient for further scaling up of nuclear-spin based quantum registers in diamond.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.102.057403