Controllable effects of quantum fluctuations on spin free-induction decay at room temperature.
Fluctuations of local fields cause decoherence of quantum objects. Usually at high temperatures, thermal noises are much stronger than quantum fluctuations unless the thermal effects are suppressed by certain techniques such as spin echo. Here we report the discovery of strong quantum-fluctuation effects of nuclear spin baths on free-induction decay of single electron spins in solids at room temperature. We find that the competition between the quantum and thermal fluctuations is controllable by an external magnetic field. These findings are based on Ramsey interference measurement of single nitrogen-vacancy center spins in diamond and numerical simulation of the decoherence, which are in excellent agreement.
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Gang-Qin
GQ
Liu
Xin-Yu
XY
Pan
Zhan-Feng
ZF
Jiang
Nan
N
Zhao
Ren-Bao
RB
Liu
D000465:Algorithms; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000737:chemistry; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D018130:Diamond / Q000737:chemistry; D004583:Electrons; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D045663:Quantum Dots; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013696:Temperature
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D018130:Diamond; D009584:Nitrogen