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Updated: Oct 29, 2026

Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals
Published on: April 14, 2020
Long-Lived Spin Coherence in a Densely Populated Stoichiometric Rare-Earth Crystal
Mucheng Guo1,2, Zhehao Xu1,2, Weiye Sun1,2
1Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Abstract:
Dense rare-earth spin ensembles in solids offer strong collective light-matter coupling for scalable quantum technologies but are typically incompatible with long coherence times due to strong dipolar interactions. Here we challenge this paradigm by showing long-lived coherence in such systems. In a stoichiometric EuCl_{3}·6H_{2}O crystal, we achieve hyperfine coherence times T_{2}^{CPMG} of up to 15 s at 4 K, extending the zero-field value T_{2} of 1.28 ms by more than four orders of magnitude using dynamical decoupling at a zero-first-order Zeeman (ZEFOZ) transition. Homogeneous linewidth measurements reveal a substantial suppression of resonant Eu^{3+}-Eu^{3+} spin interactions introduced by the full concentration near the ZEFOZ point. Coherence remains resilient to strong local perturbations, with a 32 ms coherence time for Eu^{3+} ions adjacent to Er^{3+} dopants. These results establish stoichiometric rare-earth crystals as a promising platform for quantum memories and spin-photon interfaces, demonstrating that intrinsically high optical depth and long-lived spin coherence can coexist in a fully concentrated ensemble.
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