Hyperfine-mediated transitions between electronic spin-1/2 levels of transition metal defects in SiC

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that hyperfine interactions enable microwave and electric field manipulation of spin-1/2 defect states in SiC, overcoming symmetry restrictions and enhancing control for quantum applications.

Contribution

It reveals how hyperfine coupling induces mixing of electronic spin states, allowing new microwave and electric control methods for defect spins in SiC.

Findings

Hyperfine interactions enable forbidden microwave transitions.

Electric fields can manipulate spins via hyperfine modulation.

Hyperfine coupling enhances spin control in SiC defects.

Abstract

Transition metal defects in SiC give rise to localized electronic states that can be optically addressed in the telecom range in an industrially mature semiconductor platform. This has led to intense scrutiny of the spin and optical properties of these defect centers. For spin-1/2 defects, a combination of the defect symmetry and the strong spin-orbit coupling may restrict the allowed spin transitions, giving rise to defect spins that are long lived, but hard to address via microwave spin manipulation. Here, we show via analytical and numerical results that the presence of a central nuclear spin can lead to a non-trivial mixing of electronic spin states, while preserving the defect symmetry. The interplay between a small applied magnetic field and hyperfine coupling opens up magnetic microwave transitions that are forbidden in the absence of hyperfine coupling, enabling efficient manipulation of the electronic spin. We also find that an electric microwave field parallel to the c-axis can be used to manipulate the electronic spin via modulation of the relative strength of the dipolar hyperfine term.