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Published on: June 28, 2018
Quenching spin decoherence in diamond through spin bath polarization
Susumu Takahashi1, Ronald Hanson, Johan van Tol
1Department of Physics and Center for Terahertz Science and Technology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. susumu@iqcd.ucsb.edu
Physical Review Letters
|September 4, 2008
Summary
Spin bath decoherence is eliminated by fully polarizing the spin bath. This study observed a sharp increase in electron-spin coherence time (T2) in diamond below Zeeman energy, demonstrating a novel method for spin coherence.
Area of Science:
- Quantum physics
- Materials science
- Solid-state physics
Background:
- Spin decoherence limits quantum technologies.
- Spin baths typically cause unwanted spin decoherence.
- Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers and nitrogen impurities in diamond are promising quantum systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally demonstrate the complete elimination of spin decoherence caused by a spin bath.
- To investigate the effect of spin bath polarization on electron-spin coherence time (T2).
Main Methods:
- Utilized electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy at 240 GHz and 8 Tesla.
- Measured T2 of NV centers and nitrogen impurities in diamond across a temperature range (room temperature to 1.3 K).
- Analyzed spin bath fluctuations and thermal electron-spin polarization.
Main Results:
- Observed a sharp increase in T2 below the Zeeman energy (11.5 K).
- Data fit a model suppressing flip-flop induced spin bath fluctuations via thermal polarization.
- T2 saturated at ~250 microseconds below 2 K with >99% spin bath polarization.
Conclusions:
- Complete elimination of spin bath decoherence is achievable through full spin bath polarization.
- Thermal polarization of the electron-spin bath effectively suppresses decoherence mechanisms.
- This finding offers a pathway to enhance spin coherence in quantum systems.
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