arXiv subjects

Gary Wolfowicz

Publications and source records attributed to Gary Wolfowicz.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Coherent storage of microwave excitations in rare-earth nuclear spins

Interfacing between various elements of a computer - from memory to processors to long range communication - will be as critical for quantum computers as it is for classical computers today. Paramagnetic rare earth doped crystals, such as Nd$^{3+}$:Y$_2$SiO$_5$ (YSO), are excellent candidates for such a quantum interface: they are known to exhibit long optical coherence lifetimes (for communication via optical photons), possess a nuclear spin (memory) and have in addition an electron spin that can offer hybrid coupling with superconducting qubits (processing). Here we study two of these three elements, demonstrating coherent storage and retrieval between electron and $^{145}$Nd nuclear spin states in Nd$^{3+}$:YSO. We find nuclear spin coherence times can reach 9 ms at $\approx 5$ K, about two orders of magnitude longer than the electron spin coherence, while quantum state and process tomography of the storage/retrieval operation reveal an average state fidelity of 0.86. The times and fidelities are expected to further improve at lower temperatures and with more homogeneous radio-frequency excitation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Conditional control of donor nuclear spins in silicon using Stark shifts

Electric fields can be used to tune donor spins in silicon using the Stark shift, whereby the donor electron wave function is displaced by an electric field, modifying the hyperfine coupling between the electron spin and the donor nuclear spin. We present a technique based on dynamic decoupling of the electron spin to accurately determine the Stark shift, and illustrate this using antimony donors in isotopically purified silicon-28. We then demonstrate two different methods to use a DC electric field combined with an applied resonant radio-frequency (RF) field to conditionally control donor nuclear spins. The first method combines an electric-field induced conditional phase gate with standard RF pulses, and the second one simply detunes the spins off-resonance. Finally, we consider different strategies to reduce the effect of electric field inhomogeneities and obtain above 90% process fidelities.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Uncovering many-body correlations in nanoscale nuclear spin baths by central spin decoherence

Many-body correlations can yield key insights into the nature of interacting systems; however, detecting them is often very challenging in many-particle physics, especially in nanoscale systems. Here, taking a phosphorus donor electron spin in a natural-abundance 29Si nuclear spin bath as our model system, we discover both theoretically and experimentally that many-body correlations in nanoscale nuclear spin baths produce identifiable signatures in the decoherence of the central spin under multiple-pulse dynamical decoupling control. We find that when the number of decoupling -pulses is odd, central spin decoherence is primarily driven by second-order nuclear spin correlations (pairwise flip-flop processes). In contrast, when the number of -pulses is even, fourth-order nuclear spin correlations (diagonal interaction renormalized pairwise flip-flop processes) are principally responsible for the central spin decoherence. Many-body correlations of different orders can thus be selectively detected by central spin decoherence under different dynamical decoupling controls, providing a useful approach to probing many-body processes in nanoscale nuclear spin baths.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Quantum bath-driven decoherence of mixed spin systems

The decoherence of mixed electron-nuclear spin qubits is a topic of great current importance, but understanding is still lacking: while important decoherence mechanisms for spin qubits arise from quantum spin bath environments with slow decay of correlations, the only analytical framework for explaining observed sharp variations of decoherence times with magnetic field is based on the suppression of classical noise. Here we obtain a general expression for decoherence times of the central spin system which exposes significant differences between quantum-bath decoherence and decoherence by classical field noise. We perform measurements of decoherence times of bismuth donors in natural silicon using both electron spin resonance (ESR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) transitions, and in both cases find excellent agreement with our theory across a wide parameter range. The universality of our expression is also tested by quantitative comparisons with previous measurements of decoherence around `optimal working points' or `clock transitions' where decoherence is strongly suppressed. We further validate our results by comparison to cluster expansion simulations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Atomic clock transitions in silicon-based spin qubits

A major challenge in using spins in the solid state for quantum technologies is protecting them from sources of decoherence. This can be addressed, to varying degrees, by improving material purity or isotopic composition for example, or active error correction methods such as dynamic decoupling, or even combinations of the two. However, a powerful method applied to trapped ions in the context of frequency standards and atomic clocks, is the use of particular spin transitions which are inherently robust to external perturbations. Here we show that such `clock transitions' (CTs) can be observed for electron spins in the solid state, in particular using bismuth donors in silicon. This leads to dramatic enhancements in the electron spin coherence time, exceeding seconds. We find that electron spin qubits based on CTs become less sensitive to the local magnetic environment, including the presence of 29Si nuclear spins as found in natural silicon. We expect the use of such CTs will be of additional importance for donor spins in future devices, mitigating the effects of magnetic or electric field noise arising from nearby interfaces.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Decoherence mechanisms of 209Bi donor electron spins in isotopically pure 28Si

Bismuth (209Bi) is the deepest Group V donor in silicon and possesses the most extreme characteristics such as a 9/2 nuclear spin and a 1.5 GHz hyperfine coupling. These lead to several potential advantages for a Si:Bi donor electron spin qubit compared to the more common phosphorus donor. Previous studies on Si:Bi have been performed using natural silicon where linewidths and electron spin coherence times are limited by the presence of 29Si impurities. Here we describe electron spin resonance (ESR) and electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) studies on 209Bi in isotopically pure 28Si. ESR and ENDOR linewidths, transition probabilities and coherence times are understood in terms of the spin Hamiltonian parameters showing a dependence on field and mI of the 209Bi nuclear spin. We explore various decoherence mechanisms applicable to the donor electron spin, measuring coherence times up to 700 ms at 1.7 K at X-band, comparable with 28Si:P. The coherence times we measure follow closely the calculated field-sensitivity of the transition frequency, providing a strong motivation to explore 'clock' transitions where coherence lifetimes could be further enhanced.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗