Influence of Irradiation on Defect Spin Coherence in Silicon Carbide

C. Kasper, D. Klenkert, Z. Shang, D. Simin, A. Gottscholl, A. Sperlich, H. Kraus, C. Schneider, S. Zhou, M. Trupke, W. Kada, T. Ohshima, V. Dyakonov, and G. V. Astakhov

Phys. Rev. Applied 13, 044054 – Published 21 April 2020

Abstract

Irradiation-induced lattice defects in silicon carbide ( $Si C$ ) have already exceeded their previous reputation as purely performance inhibiting. With their remarkable quantum properties, such as long room-temperature spin coherence and the possibility of downscaling to single-photon-source level, they have proven to be promising candidates for a multitude of quantum-information applications. One of the most crucial parameters of any quantum system is how long its quantum coherence can be preserved. By using the pulsed optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique, we investigate the spin-lattice relaxation time ( $T_{1}$ ) and spin-coherence time ( $T_{2}$ ) of silicon vacancies in $4 H$ - $Si C$ created by neutron, electron, and proton irradiation in a broad range of fluences. We also examine the effect of irradiation energy and sample annealing. We establish a robustness of the $T_{1}$ time against all types of irradiation and reveal a universal scaling of the $T_{2}$ time with the emitter density. Our results can be used to optimize the coherence properties of silicon-vacancy qubits in $Si C$ for specific tasks.

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Received 16 August 2019
Accepted 18 March 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.044054

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Color centers Quantum information with solid state qubits Quantum memories Spintronics Vacancies

Semiconductor compounds Wide band gap systems

Optically detected magnetic resonance

Quantum Information, Science & TechnologyCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

C. Kasper¹, D. Klenkert ¹, Z. Shang², D. Simin¹, A. Gottscholl¹, A. Sperlich ¹, H. Kraus³, C. Schneider⁴, S. Zhou ², M. Trupke ⁵, W. Kada⁶, T. Ohshima ⁷, V. Dyakonov¹, and G. V. Astakhov ^2,1,*

¹Experimental Physics 6 and Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
²Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, 01328 Dresden, Germany
³Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
⁴Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Radiation Physics, 01328 Dresden, Germany
⁵Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Universität Wien, 1090 Vienna, Austria
⁶Faculty of Science and Technology, Gunma University, Kiryu, Gunma 376-8515, Japan
⁷National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Takasaki, Gunma 370-1292, Japan