Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 8, 2025

All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
Entanglement and control of single nuclear spins in isotopically engineered silicon carbide
Alexandre Bourassa1, Christopher P Anderson1,2, Kevin C Miao1
1Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Abstract:
Nuclear spins in the solid state are both a cause of decoherence and a valuable resource for spin qubits. In this work, we demonstrate control of isolated 29Si nuclear spins in silicon carbide (SiC) to create an entangled state between an optically active divacancy spin and a strongly coupled nuclear register. We then show how isotopic engineering of SiC unlocks control of single weakly coupled nuclear spins and present an ab initio method to predict the optimal isotopic fraction that maximizes the number of usable nuclear memories. We bolster these results by reporting high-fidelity electron spin control (F = 99.984(1)%), alongside extended coherence times (Hahn-echo T2 = 2.3 ms, dynamical decoupling T2DD > 14.5 ms), and a >40-fold increase in Ramsey spin dephasing time (T2*) from isotopic purification. Overall, this work underlines the importance of controlling the nuclear environment in solid-state systems and links single photon emitters with nuclear registers in an industrially scalable material.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Overview
Double Resonance Techniques: Overview
Spin decoupling is usually achieved by...
¹³C NMR: ¹H–¹³C Decoupling
A broadband decoupling technique is used to simplify these complex, sometimes overlapping, signals. Broadband decoupling relies on a...
Spin–Spin Coupling: Two-Bond Coupling (Geminal Coupling)
The central atom need not be NMR-active because its electrons are affected by the electron polarization of the spin-active atoms. However, spin information is transmitted less effectively than in one-bond coupling, and 2J values are usually weaker than 1J values. The energy of...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin
Atomic nuclei have a net nuclear spin, , which can have an integer or half-integer value. In atomic nuclei, the spins of protons are paired against each other but not with neutrons, and vice versa. Consequently, an even number of protons does not contribute to...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

