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Spectroscopy and coherence of an excited-state transition in Tm3+:YAlO3 at telecommunication wavelength

Luozhen Li1,2,*, Akshay Babu Karyath1,2,*, Julien Bertrand1,2, Mohsen Falamarzi Askarani3,†, Maria Gieysztor3,4, Hridya Meppully Sasidharan3, Joshua A. Slater3,‡, Aaron D. Marsh5,§, Philip J. T. Woodburn5,∥ et al.

Charles W. Thiel5, Rufus L. Cone5, Sara Marzban3,¶, Nir Alfasi3,**, Patrick Remy6, and Wolfgang Tittel1,2,††

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Present address: Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc., Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C8, Canada.
  • ‡Present address: Q*Bird BV, 2628 XJ Delft, Netherlands.
  • §Present address: Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA.
  • ∥Present address: S2 Corporation, Bozeman, Montana, USA.
  • Present address: PiCard Systems BV, 6525 EC Nijmegen, Netherlands.
  • **Present address: Quantum Machines, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • ††Contact author: wolfgang.tittel@unige.ch
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033284 – Published 8 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/73jf-lvyk

Abstract

We characterize spectroscopic and coherence properties of the 1451.37 nm excited-state zero-phonon line (ZPL) between the F43 and the H43 manifolds of a thulium-doped yttrium aluminum perovskite (Tm3+:YAlO3) crystal at temperatures around 1.5 K. We measure the absorption spectrum between H63−F43 and F43−H43 manifolds, the inhomogeneous broadening of the F43−H43 (excited-state) ZPL, and the lifetimes of the higher-lying and lower-lying excited states. We also investigate level shifts caused by the quadratic Zeeman interaction as well as spectral hole-burning spectra with varying magnetic fields, providing insights into hyperfine interactions. Using spectral holes again but also optical free induction decays, we assess optical coherence times, finding a maximum of 4.75±0.07 μs at B = 2 T and low ion concentration in the F43 level. Our results—the first to demonstrate coherence of an excited-state transition in a rare-earth crystal—suggest the possibility of exploiting such transitions for quantum technology.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033284– Published 8 September, 2026
  • Received 10 November 2025
  • Accepted 3 August 2026
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