Coherent control of single nuclear spins in hexagonal boron nitride
Tongcang Li
Purdue University – West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
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Optically active spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a two-dimensional van der Waals material, provide exciting opportunities for quantum information science and technology. Nuclear spins, with their significantly longer coherence times compared to electron spins, are also important quantum resources. In our earlier work, we demonstrated the polarization of nitrogen nuclear spins using ensembles of boron vacancy spin defects in hBN [Nature Materials 21, 1024 (2022)]. Recently, we created single spin defects in hBN via 13C ion implantation and thermal annealing. With the help of electron spins, we polarized single 13C nuclear spins and demonstrated atomic-scale nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) using these defects [arXiv:2409.01601]. Furthermore, we achieved coherent control of a single nuclear spin and measured its coherence time to be about 162 ?s at room temperature using a Hahn echo sequence. These results show the potential of nuclear spins in hBN as quantum memory.
Funding: We acknowledge supports by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, grant DOI 10.37807/gbmf12259, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences Energy Frontier Research Centers program under Award Number DESC0025620.
Email: tcli@purdue.edu