All-optical control of the spin state in the NV-center in diamond

TL;DR

This paper presents an all-optical method for controlling the spin state of NV centers in diamond, enabling precise spin manipulation via virtual excitation and effective Hamiltonian modeling, advancing quantum information applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel all-optical scheme for spin control in NV centers using virtual excitation and derives an effective Hamiltonian for spin-flip transitions.

Findings

Demonstrates optical spin rotations via virtual excitation.

Derives an effective Hamiltonian for spin manipulation.

Analyzes full optical control around the ground state level anticrossing.

Abstract

We describe an all-optical scheme for spin manipulation in the ground-state triplet of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond. Virtual optical excitation from the 3A_2 ground state into the 3E excited state allows for spin rotations by virtue of the spin-spin interaction in the two-fold orbitally degenerate excited state. We derive an effective Hamiltonian for optically induced spin-flip transitions within the ground state spin triplet due to off-resonant optical pumping. Furthermore, we investigate the spin qubit formed by the Zeeman sub-levels with spin projection m_S = 0 and m_S = -1 along the NV axis around the ground state level anticrossing with regard to full optical control of the electron spin.