Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance in Neutral Silicon Vacancy Centers in Diamond via Bound Exciton States

Phys Rev Lett. 2020 Dec 4;125(23):237402. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.237402.

Abstract

Neutral silicon vacancy (SiV^{0}) centers in diamond are promising candidates for quantum networks because of their excellent optical properties and long spin coherence times. However, spin-dependent fluorescence in such defects has been elusive due to poor understanding of the excited state fine structure and limited off-resonant spin polarization. Here we report the realization of optically detected magnetic resonance and coherent control of SiV^{0} centers at cryogenic temperatures, enabled by efficient optical spin polarization via previously unreported higher-lying excited states. We assign these states as bound exciton states using group theory and density functional theory. These bound exciton states enable new control schemes for SiV^{0} as well as other emerging defect systems.