Sensing Individual Nuclear Spins with a Single Rare-Earth Electron Spin

Area of Science:

• Quantum Information Science
• Solid-State Physics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Rare-earth electron spins in crystalline hosts offer a potential interface between telecom photons and spin qubits.
• Optically accessible electron spins interacting with nuclear spins are valuable for quantum memory.
• Detecting individual nuclear spins near rare-earth ions in dense nuclear spin baths has been a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the detection of individual nuclear spins proximal to single rare-earth ions in a crystalline host.
• To explore the potential of rare-earth ion systems for quantum memory and error correction applications.

Main Methods:

• Electron spin spectroscopy of single Cerium 3+ (Ce^{3+}) ions in a yttrium orthosilicate host.
• Utilizing the long coherence time (T_{2}=124 μs) of the Ce^{3+} electron spin.
• Isolating proximal ^{89}Y nuclear spins and detecting a single nearby ^{29}Si nuclear spin.

Main Results:

• Achieved a coherence time of 124 μs for single Ce^{3+} electron spins.
• Successfully isolated proximal ^{89}Y nuclear spins from the host's nuclear spin bath.
• Demonstrated the detection of a single, naturally abundant ^{29}Si nuclear spin.

Conclusions:

• This work overcomes the challenge of detecting individual nuclear spins in rare-earth systems with dense nuclear spin baths.
• The findings pave the way for quantum memory applications using coupled environmental nuclear spins in rare-earth ion systems.
• Potential applications include quantum error correction schemes leveraging the quantum memory capabilities of these systems.