Coupling spins to nanomechanical resonators: Toward quantum spin-mechanics

TL;DR

This paper reviews the field of spin-mechanics, detailing different resonator types, coupling mechanisms, and potential for quantum control at the single spin and phonon level, emphasizing strain coupling in defect centers.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of spin-mechanical resonators, coupling processes, and prospects for quantum regime implementation, highlighting recent experimental and theoretical advances.

Findings

Different types of spin-mechanical resonators are summarized.

Coupling mechanisms similar to cavity-QED and trapped-ion systems are discussed.

Prospects for achieving quantum control at the single spin and phonon level are analyzed.

Abstract

Spin-mechanics studies interactions between spin systems and mechanical vibrations in a nanomechanical resonator and explores their potential applications in quantum information processing. In this tutorial, we summarize various types of spin-mechanical resonators and discuss both the cavity-QED-like and the trapped-ion-like spin-mechanical coupling processes. The implementation of these processes using negatively charged nitrogen vacancy and silicon vacancy centers in diamond is reviewed. Prospects for reaching the full quantum regime of spin-mechanics, in which quantum control can occur at the level of both single spin and single phonon, are discussed with an emphasis on the crucial role of strain coupling to the orbital degrees of freedom of the defect centers.