arXiv · 1508.05362
Nuclear spin decoherence of neutral $^{31}$P donors in silicon: Effect of environmental $^{29}$Si nuclei
Abstract
Spectral diffusion arising from $^{29}$Si nuclear spin flip-flops, known to be a primary source of electron spin decoherence in silicon, is also predicted to limit the coherence times of neutral donor nuclear spins in silicon. Here, the impact of this mechanism on $^{31}$P nuclear spin coherence is measured as a function of $^{29}$Si concentration using X-band pulsed electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR). The $^{31}$P nuclear spin echo decays show that decoherence is controlled by $^{29}$Si flip-flops resulting in both fast (exponential) and slow (non-exponential) spectral diffusion processes. The decay times span a range from 100 ms in crystals containing 50% $^{29}$Si to 3 s in crystals containing 1% $^{29}$Si. These nuclear spin echo decay times for neutral donors are orders of magnitude longer than those reported for ionized donors in natural silicon. The electron spin of the neutral donors `protects' the donor nuclear spins by suppressing $^{29}$Si flip-flops within a `frozen core', as a result of the detuning of the $^{29}$Si spins caused by their hyperfine coupling to the electron spin.
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Evan S. Petersen, Alexei M. Tyryshkin, John J. L. Morton, Eisuke Abe, Shinichi Tojo, Kohei M. Itoh, Mike L. W. Thewalt, Stephen A. Lyon. 2015-08-21. Nuclear spin decoherence of neutral $^{31}$P donors in silicon: Effect of environmental $^{29}$Si nuclei. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.93.161202
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