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Isotope engineering for spin defects in van der Waals materials
- Source :
- Nature Communications 15, 104 (2024)
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Spin defects in van der Waals materials offer a promising platform for advancing quantum technologies. Here, we propose and demonstrate a powerful technique based on isotope engineering of host materials to significantly enhance the coherence properties of embedded spin defects. Focusing on the recently-discovered negatively charged boron vacancy center ($\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{B}}^-$) in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), we grow isotopically purified $\mathrm{h}{}^{10}\mathrm{B}{}^{15}\mathrm{N}$ crystals. Compared to $\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{B}}^-$ in hBN with the natural distribution of isotopes, we observe substantially narrower and less crowded $\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{B}}^-$ spin transitions as well as extended coherence time $T_2$ and relaxation time $T_1$. For quantum sensing, $\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{B}}^-$ centers in our $\mathrm{h}{}^{10}\mathrm{B}{}^{15}\mathrm{N}$ samples exhibit a factor of $4$ ($2$) enhancement in DC (AC) magnetic field sensitivity. For additional quantum resources, the individual addressability of the $\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{B}}^-$ hyperfine levels enables the dynamical polarization and coherent control of the three nearest-neighbor ${}^{15}\mathrm{N}$ nuclear spins. Our results demonstrate the power of isotope engineering for enhancing the properties of quantum spin defects in hBN, and can be readily extended to improving spin qubits in a broad family of van der Waals materials.<br />Comment: 8+5+12 pages, 4+5+8 figures
- Subjects :
- Quantum Physics
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Journal :
- Nature Communications 15, 104 (2024)
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2307.06441
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44494-3