1202.5875 (Victor A. Soltamov et al.)

Room temperature coherent spin-alignment of silicon vacancies in 4H- and
6H-SiC    [PDF]

Victor A. Soltamov, Alexandra A. Soltamova, Ivan I. Proskuryakov, Pavel G. Baranov

Optically induced inverse population of the ground state spin sublevels of the silicon vacancies in silicon carbide (SiC) at room temperature was observed for the fi?rst time, making them a very favorable defect for spintronics and quantum information processing. Room temperature transient nutations of the silicon vacancy spin in SiC after optical flash clearly demonstrate that the probed silicon vacancy spin ensemble can be prepared in a coherent superposition of the spin states. Very long coherence times of $\gtrsim$ 80 $\mu$s were obtained at room temperature in our experiments even in crystals with high concentrations of the silicon vacancies. Two opposite schemes of the optical alignment of the populations between the ground state spin sublevels of the silicon vacancy are revealed in 4H- and 6H-SiC at room temperature upon illumination with unpolarized light.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.5875