Selective optical addressing of nuclear spins through superhyperfine interaction in rare-earth doped solids

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates selective optical control of nuclear spins in a solid-state system by exploiting superhyperfine interactions, advancing the development of long-lived, optically addressable quantum bits for quantum communication.

Contribution

It introduces a method to optically address nuclear spins via superhyperfine coupling in rare-earth doped solids, enabling site-selective control by magnetic field tuning.

Findings

Successful experimental probing of electron-nuclear spin mixing.

Validation of the theoretical model through photon echo techniques.

Site-selective nuclear spin addressing achieved by magnetic field adjustment.

Abstract

In Er$^{3+}$:Y$_2$SiO$_5$, we demonstrate the selective optical addressing of the $^{89}$Y$^{3+}$ nuclear spins through their superhyperfine coupling with the Er$^{3+}$ electronic spins possessing large Land\'e $g$-factors. We experimentally probe the electron-nuclear spin mixing with photon echo techniques and validate our model. The site-selective optical addressing of the Y$^{3+}$ nuclear spins is designed by adjusting the magnetic field strength and orientation. This constitutes an important step towards the realization of long-lived solid-state qubits optically addressed by telecom photons.