Orbital and Spin Dynamics of Single Neutrally-Charged Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond

TL;DR

This study investigates the orbital and spin dynamics of single neutral nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, revealing relaxation times and enabling high-fidelity spin state readout for quantum applications.

Contribution

It provides the first direct measurements of orbital relaxation and spin relaxation times in neutral NV centers, advancing quantum sensing and information processing.

Findings

Orbital relaxation time is 430ns at 4.7K.

Spin relaxation time is 1.5 seconds.

Achieved ≥98% high-fidelity single-shot spin readout.

Abstract

The neutral charge state plays an important role in quantum information and sensing applications based on nitrogen-vacancy centers. However, the orbital and spin dynamics remain unexplored. Here, we use resonant excitation of single centers to directly reveal the fine structure, enabling selective addressing of spin-orbit states. Through pump-probe experiments, we find the orbital relaxation time (430ns at 4.7K) and measure its temperature-dependence up to 11.8K. Finally we reveal the spin relaxation time (1.5s), and realize projective high-fidelity single-shot readout of the spin state ($\geq98\%$).