Optical Excitation of Nuclear Spin Coherence in Tm3+:YAG

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first optical excitation and characterization of nuclear spin coherence in a thulium-doped YAG crystal, highlighting its potential for broadband quantum storage with a coherence lifetime of about 300 microseconds.

Contribution

It introduces nuclear spin coherence optical excitation in Tm3+:YAG, a novel achievement for solid-state quantum storage materials.

Findings

Nuclear spin coherence lifetime of ~300 μs measured

Optical excitation and detection of nuclear spin coherence achieved

Broadband operation potential due to simple hyperfine structure

Abstract

A thulium-doped crystal is experimentally shown to be an excellent candidate for broadband quantum storage in a solid-state medium. For the first time, nuclear spin coherence is optically excited, detected and characterized in such a crystal. The lifetime of the spin coherence -- the potential storage entity -- is measured by means of Raman echo to be about 300 $\mu$s over a wide range of ground state splittings. This flexibility, attractive for broadband operation, and well fitted to existing quantum sources, results from the simple hyperfine structure, contrasting with Pr- and Eu- doped crystals.