Mechanism for optical initialization of spin in NV$^{-}$ center in diamond

ORAL

Abstract

Optical initialization of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV$^{-})$ center in diamond, the experimental manipulation of its degenerate mixed ground state into an un-entangled spin state through optical means, makes it one of the best candidates for realization of individually addressable spins in the solid state for quantum computing and other studies under ambient conditions. However, its exact mechanism is still not clear. Based on exact diagonalization of a many-electron Hamiltonian with parameters derived from ab initio GW calculations, the present study elucidates the electronic structure of the NV$^{- }$center and puts forward a concrete optical initialization mechanism. We calculated the ordering and energy surfaces of the low-energy many-body states and the relaxation processes of photo-excitation responsible for the optical initialization. Intersystem crossings are shown to be essential.

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Authors

  • Sangkook Choi

    University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  • Manish Jain

    Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Berkeley and Lab Berkeley National Lab

  • Steven G. Louie

    U. C. Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley and Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley and Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, UC Berkeley and Lab Berkeley National Lab