September 16, 2020 Journal article Open Access

Welinski, Sacha; Tiranov, Alexey; Businger, Moritz; Ferrier, Alban; Afzelius, Mikael; Goldner, Philippe

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{
  "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevX.10.031060", 
  "author": [
    {
      "family": "Welinski, Sacha"
    }, 
    {
      "family": "Tiranov,  Alexey"
    }, 
    {
      "family": "Businger, Moritz"
    }, 
    {
      "family": "Ferrier, Alban"
    }, 
    {
      "family": "Afzelius, Mikael"
    }, 
    {
      "family": "Goldner, Philippe"
    }
  ], 
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2020, 
        9, 
        16
      ]
    ]
  }, 
  "abstract": "<p>Optically addressable spins are actively investigated in quantum communication, processing, and sensing. Optical and spin coherence lifetimes, which determine quantum operation fidelity and storage time, are often limited by spin-spin interactions, which can be decreased by polarizing spins. Spin polarization can be achieved using optical pumping, large magnetic fields, or mK-range temperatures. Here, we show that optical pumping of a small fraction of ions with a fixed-frequency laser, coupled with spin-spin interactions and spin diffusion, leads to substantial spin polarization in a paramagnetic rare-earth doped crystal,&nbsp;171Yb3+\u2236Y2SiO5. Indeed, more than 90% spin polarization has been achieved at 2&nbsp;K and zero magnetic field. Using this spin polarization mechanism, we further demonstrate an increase in optical coherence lifetime from 0.3&nbsp;ms to 0.8&nbsp;ms, due to a strong decrease in spin-spin interactions. This effect opens the way to new schemes for obtaining long optical and spin coherence lifetimes in various solid-state systems such as ensembles of rare-earth ions or color centers in diamond, which are of interest for a broad range of quantum technologies.</p>", 
  "title": "Coherence Time Extension by Large-Scale Optical Spin Polarization in a Rare-Earth Doped Crystal", 
  "version": "1", 
  "type": "article-journal", 
  "id": "4081237"
}