Extending and measuring dephasing times of nuclear spins in NV centers of diamond

TL;DR

This paper proposes methods to measure and extend the dephasing times of nuclear spins in diamond NV centers, achieving longer coherence times than the electron spin relaxation time, which is crucial for quantum technologies.

Contribution

The authors introduce new schemes for measuring and extending nuclear spin dephasing times in NV centers, surpassing the limitations imposed by electron spin relaxation.

Findings

Dephasing times longer than electron spin T1 achieved

Schemes successfully implemented in experimental setups

Enhanced coherence times improve quantum information applications

Abstract

Long coherence times rank among the most important performance measures for many different types of quantum technology. In NV centers of diamond, the nuclear spins provide particularly long dephasing times. However, since initialization and readout require assistance from the electron spin, the apparent dephasing times can be reduced by the electron spin lifetime. Here we propose and implement schemes for measuring and extending the dephasing times of nuclear spins, resulting in dephasing times that are longer than the longitudinal relaxation time $T_{1}$ of the electron spin.