Physical Sciences Division
Published November 20, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Optical and spin coherence of Er spin qubits in epitaxial cerium dioxide on silicon

Creators

  • 1. Argonne National Laboratory
  • 2. University of Chicago

Description

Robust spin-photon interfaces with optical transitions in the telecommunication band are essential for quantum networking technologies. Erbium (Er) ions are the ideal candidate with environmentally protected transitions in telecom-C band. Finding the right technologically compatible host material to enable long-lived spins remains a major hurdle. We introduce a new platform based on Er ions in cerium dioxide (CeO2) as a nearly-zero nuclear spin environment (0.04%) epitaxially grown on silicon, offering silicon compatibility for opto-electrical devices. Our studies focus on Er3+ ions and show a narrow homogeneous linewidth of 440 kHz with an optical coherence time of 0.72 μs at 3.6 K. The reduced nuclear spin noise enables a slow spin-lattice relaxation with a spin relaxation time up to 2.5 ms and an electron spin coherence time of 0.66 μs (in the isolated ion limit) at 3.6 K. These findings highlight the potential of Er3+:CeO2 platform for quantum networks applications.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1038/s41534-024-00903-z
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:14108

Funding

U.S. Department of Energy
Q-NEXT
U.S. Department of Energy
DE-AC02-06CH11357
Air Force Research Office
FA9550–23-1-0667

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Physical Sciences Division, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Department(s)
Physics