Single atom-scale diamond defect allows large Aharonov-Casher phase

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experiment using a spinning diamond with a single NV defect to produce a large Aharonov-Casher phase shift, significantly exceeding previous atom-scale measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel solid-state setup to observe a large Aharonov-Casher phase in a macroscopic motion context, utilizing a diamond with a single NV defect.

Findings

Achieves a relative phase shift of up to 17 radians.

Demonstrates a two-order magnitude increase over previous atom-scale measurements.

Proposes a feasible experimental configuration for large A-C phase detection.

Abstract

We propose an experiment that would produce and measure a large Aharonov-Casher (A-C) phase in a solid-state system under macroscopic motion. A diamond crystal is mounted on a spinning disk in the presence of a uniform electric field. Internal magnetic states of a single NV defect, replacing interferometer trajectories, are coherently controlled by microwave pulses. The A-C phase shift is manifested as a relative phase, of up to 17 radians, between components of a superposition of magnetic substates, which is two orders of magnitude larger than that measured in any other atom-scale quantum system.