Investigation of the Stark Effect on a Centrosymmetric Quantum Emitter in Diamond

TL;DR

This study experimentally demonstrates that Group IV-vacancy centers in diamond, such as SnV, exhibit minimal electric field sensitivity due to their inversion symmetry, enabling stable optical coherence and serving as local electric field probes.

Contribution

First direct measurement of the electric field insensitivity of Group IV defect centers in diamond, confirming their potential for stable quantum optical applications.

Findings

SnV centers have at least four orders of magnitude smaller electric dipole moments than NV centers.

Electric field modulation of SnV centers can be used to probe local electric field noise.

Spectral diffusion impacts the optical coherence of SnV centers.

Abstract

Quantum emitters in diamond are leading optically-accessible solid-state qubits. Among these, Group IV-vacancy defect centers have attracted great interest as coherent and stable optical interfaces to long-lived spin states. Theory indicates that their inversion symmetry provides first-order insensitivity to stray electric fields, a common limitation for optical coherence in any host material. Here we experimentally quantify this electric field dependence via an external electric field applied to individual tin-vacancy (SnV) centers in diamond. These measurements reveal that the permanent electric dipole moment and polarizability are at least four orders of magnitude smaller than for the diamond nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, representing the first direct measurement of the inversion symmetry protection of a Group IV defect in diamond. Moreover, we show that by modulating the electric-field-induced dipole we can use the SnV as a nanoscale probe of local electric field noise, and we employ this technique to highlight the effect of spectral diffusion on the SnV.