Room-temperature coherent control of implanted defect spins in silicon carbide

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a new type of stable, optically addressable spin defect in silicon carbide created via hydrogen ion implantation, operable at room temperature for quantum applications.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel spin defect in 4H silicon carbide with unique optical and magnetic properties, controlled by annealing, expanding quantum defect engineering.

Findings

Defects can be generated with controlled annealing.

Defects exhibit high thermal stability and coherence at room temperature.

Distinct fluorescence and magnetic resonance spectra from known defects.

Abstract

Recently, vacancy-related spin defects in silicon carbide (SiC) have been demonstrated to be potentially suitable for versatile quantum interface building and scalable quantum network construction. Significant efforts have been undertaken to identify spin systems in SiC and to extend their quantum capabilities using large-scale growth and advanced nanofabrication methods. Here we demonstrated a type of spin defect in the 4H polytype of SiC generated via hydrogen ion implantation with high-temperature post-annealing, which is different from any known defects. These spin defects can be optically addressed and coherently controlled even at room temperature, and their fluorescence spectrum and optically detected magnetic resonance spectra are different from those of any previously discovered defects. Moreover, the generation of these defects can be well controlled by optimizing the annealing temperature after implantation. These defects demonstrate high thermal stability with coherently controlled electron spins, facilitating their application in quantum sensing and masers under harsh conditions.