Electrical tuning of tin-vacancy centers in diamond

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates electrical Stark tuning of tin-vacancy centers in diamond, achieving over 1.7 GHz of spectral adjustment, which could improve the creation of identical quantum emitters for quantum information applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method for electrical tuning of SnV centers in diamond via the Stark effect, providing localized control without reducing emission intensity.

Findings

Achieved tuning range beyond 1.7 GHz

Observed both quadratic and linear Stark effects

Confirmed tuning is due to electric field, not thermal effects

Abstract

Group-IV color centers in diamond have attracted significant attention as solid-state spin qubits because of their excellent optical and spin properties. Among these color centers, the tin-vacancy (SnV$^{\,\textrm{-}}$) center is of particular interest because its large ground-state splitting enables long spin coherence times at temperatures above 1$\,$K. However, color centers typically suffer from inhomogeneous broadening, which can be exacerbated by nanofabrication-induced strain, hindering the implementation of quantum nodes emitting indistinguishable photons. Although strain and Raman tuning have been investigated as promising techniques to overcome the spectral mismatch between distinct group-IV color centers, other approaches need to be explored to find methods that can offer more localized control without sacrificing emission intensity. Here, we study electrical tuning of SnV$^{\,\textrm{-}}$ centers in diamond via the direct-current Stark effect. We demonstrate a tuning range beyond 1.7$\,$GHz. We observe both quadratic and linear dependence on the applied electric field. We also confirm that the tuning effect we observe is a result of the applied electric field and is distinct from thermal tuning due to Joule heating. Stark tuning is a promising avenue toward overcoming detunings between emitters and enabling the realization of multiple identical quantum nodes.