Spin-Light Coherence for Single-Spin Measurement and Control in Diamond

Abstract

Dressing-Up Diamond Defects: The spin states of nitrogen vacancy defects in diamond are being explored as information carriers and memories in quantum information systems. Their long lifetimes, fast manipulation rates, and the ability to couple them to adjacent electronic and nuclear spins provide the necessary properties for implementation in solid-state quantum networks. To date, however, the readout of the spin state via photoluminescence, either directly or indirectly, results in the destruction of the spin state. Buckley et al. (p. 1212 , published online 14 October; see the Perspective by Milburn ) have formed a light-matter hybrid state in which the spin interacts with laser light to form a polariton state. This hybrid state can be optically probed to produce a nondestructive measurement and manipulation technique for the spin state of the nitrogen-vacancy center.