- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review B

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Coherent all-optical control of the germanium vacancy in diamond

C. Adambukulam1,*,†, J. A. Scott2,‡, S. Q. Lim3, I. Aharonovich2,4, A. Morello1, and A. Laucht1,§

  • *Contact Author: cadambukulam@phys.ethz.ch
  • †Present address: Department of Physics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
  • ‡Present address: The University of Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Camperdown NSW 2006, Australia.
  • §Contact author: a.laucht@unsw.edu.au
PDF

Phys. Rev. B 113, 195406 – Published 12 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/fx54-x243

Abstract

The germanium vacancy in diamond (GeV) is a promising candidate for color center based quantum networking. Yet, like for other group-IV vacancy defects in diamond, achieving fast, high-fidelity qubit operations using traditional magnetic resonance techniques is experimentally challenging due to a weak magnetic dipole and susceptibility to thermally induced decoherence. Here, we perform all-optical control of the GeV and realize Rabi frequencies exceeding ∼20 MHz. We do so by driving the two Λ-systems of the GeV simultaneously and apply this to probe the spin coherence (T2*=224±14 ns, T2H=11.9±0.3 µs). Our control scheme is applicable to other color centers and particularly, other group-IV defects for which the scheme may be optimized to improve all-optical control in these systems.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (51)

  1. H. J. Kimble, The quantum internet, Nature (London) 453, 1023 (2008).
  2. L.-M. Duan, M. D. Lukin, J. I. Cirac, and P. Zoller, Long-distance quantum communication with atomic ensembles and linear optics, Nature (London) 414, 413 (2001).
  3. S. D. Barrett and P. Kok, Efficient high-fidelity quantum computation using matter qubits and linear optics, Phys. Rev. A 71, 060310(R) (2005).
  4. I. Aharonovich, D. Englund, and M. Toth, Solid-state single-photon emitters, Nat. Photon. 10, 631 (2016).
  5. N. J. Lambert, A. Rueda, F. Sedlmeir, and H. G. L. Schwefel, Coherent conversion between microwave and optical photons—an overview of physical implementations, Adv. Quantum Technol. 3, 1900077 (2020).
  6. M. H. Abobeih, J. Cramer, M. A. Bakker, N. Kalb, M. Markham, D. J. Twitchen, and T. H. Taminiau, One-second coherence for a single electron spin coupled to a multi-qubit nuclear-spin environment, Nat. Commun. 9, 2552 (2018).
  7. R. Nagy, M. Widmann, M. Niethammer, D. B. R. Dasari, I. Gerhardt, O. O. Soykal, M. Radulaski, T. Ohshima, J. Vučković, N. T. Son, I. G. Ivanov, S. E. Economou, C. Bonato, S.-Y. Lee, and J. Wrachtrup, Quantum properties of dichroic silicon vacancies in silicon carbide, Phys. Rev. Appl. 9, 034022 (2018).
  8. D. D. Sukachev, A. Sipahigil, C. T. Nguyen, M. K. Bhaskar, R. E. Evans, F. Jelezko, and M. D. Lukin, Silicon-vacancy spin qubit in diamond: A quantum memory exceeding 10 ms with single-shot state readout, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 223602 (2017).
  9. D. Chen, J. E. Fröch, S. Ru, H. Cai, N. Wang, G. Adamo, J. Scott, F. Li, N. Zheludev, I. Aharonovich, and W. Gao, Quantum interference of resonance fluorescence from germanium-vacancy color centers in diamond, Nano Lett. 22, 6306 (2022).
  10. C. Bradac, W. Gao, J. Forneris, M. E. Trusheim, and I. Aharonovich, Quantum nanophotonics with group IV defects in diamond, Nat. Commun. 10, 5625 (2019).
  11. M. E. Trusheim, B. Pingault, N. H. Wan, M. Gündoğan, L. De Santis, R. Debroux, D. Gangloff, C. Purser, K. C. Chen, M. Walsh, J. J. Rose, J. N. Becker, B. Lienhard, E. Bersin, I. Paradeisanos, G. Wang, D. Lyzwa, A. R. P. Montblanch, G. Malladi, H. Bakhru, et al., Transform-limited photons from a coherent tin-vacancy spin in diamond, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 023602 (2020).
  12. M. K. Bhaskar, D. D. Sukachev, A. Sipahigil, R. E. Evans, M. J. Burek, C. T. Nguyen, L. J. Rogers, P. Siyushev, M. H. Metsch, H. Park, F. Jelezko, M. Lončar, and M. D. Lukin, Quantum nonlinear optics with a germanium-vacancy color center in a nanoscale diamond waveguide, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 223603 (2017).
  13. J. L. Zhang, K. G. Lagoudakis, Y.-K. Tzeng, C. Dory, M. Radulaski, Y. Kelaita, K. A. Fischer, S. Sun, Z.-X. Shen, N. A. Melosh, S. Chu, and J. Vučković, Complete coherent control of silicon vacancies in diamond nanopillars containing single defect centers, Optica 4, 1317 (2017).
  14. E. Neu, D. Steinmetz, J. Riedrich-Möller, S. Gsell, M. Fischer, M. Schreck, and C. Becher, Single photon emission from silicon-vacancy colour centres in chemical vapour deposition nano-diamonds on iridium, New J. Phys. 13, 025012 (2011).
  15. C. M. Knaut, A. Suleymanzade, Y.-C. Wei, D. R. Assumpcao, P.-J. Stas, Y. Q. Huan, B. Machielse, E. N. Knall, M. Sutula, G. Baranes, N. Sinclair, C. De-Eknamkul, D. S. Levonian, M. K. Bhaskar, H. Park, M. Lončar, and M. D. Lukin, Entanglement of nanophotonic quantum memory nodes in a telecommunication network, Nature (London) 629, 573 (2024).
  16. T. Neuman, M. Eichenfield, M. E. Trusheim, L. Hackett, P. Narang, and D. Englund, A phononic interface between a superconducting quantum processor and quantum networked spin memories, npj Quantum Inf. 7, 121 (2021).
  17. S. Maity, L. Shao, Y.-I. Sohn, S. Meesala, B. Machielse, E. Bielejec, M. Markham, and M. Lončar, Spectral alignment of single-photon emitters in diamond using strain gradient, Phys. Rev. Appl. 10, 024050 (2018).
  18. J. N. Becker, B. Pingault, D. Groß, M. Gündoğan, N. Kukharchyk, M. Markham, A. Edmonds, M. Atatüre, P. Bushev, and C. Becher, All-optical control of the silicon-vacancy spin in diamond at millikelvin temperatures, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 053603 (2018).
  19. H. H. Vallabhapurapu, J. P. Slack-Smith, V. K. Sewani, C. Adambukulam, A. Morello, J. J. Pla, and A. Laucht, Fast coherent control of a nitrogen-vacancy-center spin ensemble using a KTaO3 dielectric resonator at cryogenic temperatures, Phys. Rev. Appl. 16, 044051 (2021).
  20. C. T. Nguyen, D. D. Sukachev, M. K. Bhaskar, B. Machielse, D. S. Levonian, E. N. Knall, P. Stroganov, C. Chia, M. J. Burek, R. Riedinger, H. Park, M. Lončar, and M. D. Lukin, An integrated nanophotonic quantum register based on silicon-vacancy spins in diamond, Phys. Rev. B 100, 165428 (2019).
  21. E. I. Rosenthal, C. P. Anderson, H. C. Kleidermacher, A. J. Stein, H. Lee, J. Grzesik, G. Scuri, A. E. Rugar, D. Riedel, S. Aghaeimeibodi, G. H. Ahn, K. Van Gasse, and J. Vučković, Microwave spin control of a tin-vacancy qubit in diamond, Phys. Rev. X 13, 031022 (2023).
  22. S. Meesala, Y.-I. Sohn, B. Pingault, L. Shao, H. A. Atikian, J. Holzgrafe, M. Gündoğan, C. Stavrakas, A. Sipahigil, C. Chia, R. Evans, M. J. Burek, M. Zhang, L. Wu, J. L. Pacheco, J. Abraham, E. Bielejec, M. D. Lukin, M. Atatüre, and M. Lončar, Strain engineering of the silicon-vacancy center in diamond, Phys. Rev. B 97, 205444 (2018).
  23. C. J. Hepp, Electronic structure of the silicon vacancy color center in diamond, Ph.D. thesis, Universität des Saarlandes, 2014.
  24. C. J. Ballance, T. P. Harty, N. M. Linke, M. A. Sepiol, and D. M. Lucas, High-fidelity quantum logic gates using trapped-ion hyperfine qubits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 060504 (2016).
  25. M. P. A. Jones, J. Beugnon, A. Gaëtan, J. Zhang, G. Messin, A. Browaeys, and P. Grangier, Fast quantum state control of a single trapped neutral atom, Phys. Rev. A 75, 040301(R) (2007).
  26. D. Press, T. D. Ladd, B. Zhang, and Y. Yamamoto, Complete quantum control of a single quantum dot spin using ultrafast optical pulses, Nature (London) 456, 218 (2008).
  27. Y. Chu, M. Markham, D. J. Twitchen, and M. D. Lukin, All-optical control of a single electron spin in diamond, Phys. Rev. A 91, 021801(R) (2015).
  28. C. G. Yale, B. B. Buckley, D. J. Christle, G. Burkard, F. J. Heremans, L. C. Bassett, and D. D. Awschalom, All-optical control of a solid-state spin using coherent dark states, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 110, 7595 (2013).
  29. R. Debroux, C. P. Michaels, C. M. Purser, N. Wan, M. E. Trusheim, J. Arjona Martínez, R. A. Parker, A. M. Stramma, K. C. Chen, L. de Santis, E. M. Alexeev, A. C. Ferrari, D. Englund, D. A. Gangloff, and M. Atatüre, Quantum control of the tin-vacancy spin qubit in diamond, Phys. Rev. X 11, 041041 (2021).
  30. See Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/10.1103/fx54-x243 for details regarding the sample preparation and experimental setup, characterization of the defect and the derivations of select equations regarding Raman transitions, which includes Refs. [23, 42, 50, 51].
  31. C. Adambukulam, B. C. Johnson, A. Morello, and A. Laucht, Hyperfine spectroscopy and fast, all-optical arbitrary state initialization and readout of a single, ten-level Ge73 vacancy nuclear spin qudit in diamond, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 060603 (2024).
  32. D. Chen, Z. Mu, Y. Zhou, J. E. Fröch, A. Rasmit, C. Diederichs, N. Zheludev, I. Aharonovich, and W. B. Gao, Optical gating of resonance fluorescence from a single germanium vacancy color center in diamond, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 033602 (2019).
  33. C. Hepp, T. Müller, V. Waselowski, J. N. Becker, B. Pingault, H. Sternschulte, D. Steinmüller-Nethl, A. Gali, J. R. Maze, M. Atatüre, et al., Electronic structure of the silicon vacancy color center in diamond, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 036405 (2014).
  34. R. A. Parker, J. Arjona Martínez, K. C. Chen, A. M. Stramma, I. B. Harris, C. P. Michaels, M. E. Trusheim, M. Hayhurst Appel, C. M. Purser, W. G. Roth, D. Englund, and M. Atatüre, A diamond nanophotonic interface with an optically accessible deterministic electronuclear spin register, Nat. Photon. 18, 156 (2024).
  35. Before applying the A1 pulse, the system was prepared in the |1〉 state using a B2 pulse, as indicated in Fig. 2.
  36. B. Pingault, J. N. Becker, C. H. H. Schulte, C. Arend, C. Hepp, T. Godde, A. I. Tartakovskii, M. Markham, C. Becher, and M. Atatüre, All-optical formation of coherent dark states of silicon-vacancy spins in diamond, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 263601 (2014).
  37. X. Xu, S. Bo, P. R. Berman, D. G. Steel, A. S. Bracker, D. Gammon, and L. Sham, Coherent population trapping of an electron spin in a single negatively charged quantum dot, Nat. Phys. 4, 692 (2008).
  38. B. D. Agap'ev, M. B. Gornyi, B. Matisov, and Y. V. Rozhdestvenskii, Coherent population trapping in quantum systems, Phys. Usp. 36, 763 (1993).
  39. A. Karim, H. H. Vallabhapurapu, C. Adambukulam, A. Laucht, S. P. Russo, and A. Peruzzo, All-electron ab-initio hyperfine coupling of Si-, Ge- and Sn-vacancy defects in diamond, arXiv:2309.13913.
  40. C. Cohen-Tannoudji, J. Dupont-Roc, and G. Grynberg, Atom-Photon Interactions: Basic Processes and Applications (Wiley-VCH, New York, 1998).
  41. J. Bateman, A. Xuereb, and T. Freegarde, Stimulated Raman transitions via multiple atomic levels, Phys. Rev. A 81, 043808 (2010).
  42. C. J. Foot, Atomic Physics (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005).
  43. B. Dalton and P. Knight, Population trapping and ultranarrow Raman lineshapes induced by phase-fluctuating fields, Opt. Commun. 42, 411 (1982).
  44. B. D. Wood, G. A. Stimpson, J. E. March, Y. N. D. Lekhai, C. J. Stephen, B. L. Green, A. C. Frangeskou, L. Ginés, S. Mandal, O. A. Williams, and G. W. Morley, Long spin coherence times of nitrogen vacancy centers in milled nanodiamonds, Phys. Rev. B 105, 205401 (2022).
  45. L. G. Rowan, E. L. Hahn, and W. B. Mims, Electron-spin-echo envelope modulation, Phys. Rev. 137, A61 (1965).
  46. K. G. Lagoudakis, K. A. Fischer, T. Sarmiento, P. L. McMahon, M. Radulaski, J. L. Zhang, Y. Kelaita, C. Dory, K. Müller, and J. Vučković, Observation of Mollow triplets with tunable interactions in double lambda systems of individual hole spins, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 013602 (2017).
  47. X. Xu, S. Shen, and Y. Xiao, Tuning the phase sensitivity of a double-lambda system with a static magnetic field, Opt. Express 21, 11705 (2013).
  48. J. N. Becker, J. Görlitz, C. Arend, M. Markham, and C. Becher, Ultrafast all-optical coherent control of single silicon vacancy colour centres in diamond, Nat. Commun. 7, 13512 (2016).
  49. K. Senkalla, G. Genov, M. H. Metsch, P. Siyushev, and F. Jelezko, Germanium vacancy in diamond quantum memory exceeding 20 ms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 026901 (2024).
  50. D. Manzano, A short introduction to the Lindblad master equation, AIP Adv. 10, 025106 (2020).
  51. D. F. James and J. Jerke, Effective Hamiltonian theory and its applications in quantum information, Can. J. Phys. 85, 625 (2007).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. B 113, 195406– Published 12 May, 2026
  • Received 28 April 2024
  • Revised 22 March 2026
  • Accepted 30 March 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation