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Spin–phonon interactions in silicon carbide addressed by Gaussian acoustics

Nature Physics volume 15, pages 490–495 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hybrid spin–mechanical systems provide a platform for integrating quantum registers and transducers. Efficient creation and control of such systems require a comprehensive understanding of the individual spin and mechanical components as well as their mutual interactions. Point defects in silicon carbide (SiC) offer long-lived, optically addressable spin registers in a wafer-scale material with low acoustic losses, making them natural candidates for integration with high-quality-factor mechanical resonators. Here, we show Gaussian focusing of a surface acoustic wave in SiC, characterized using a stroboscopic X-ray diffraction imaging technique, which delivers direct, strain amplitude information at nanoscale spatial resolution. Using ab initio calculations, we provide a more complete picture of spin–strain coupling for various defects in SiC with C3v symmetry. This reveals the importance of shear strain for future device engineering and enhanced spin–mechanical coupling. We demonstrate all-optical detection of acoustic paramagnetic resonance without microwave magnetic fields, relevant for sensing applications. Finally, we show mechanically driven Autler–Townes splittings and magnetically forbidden Rabi oscillations. These results offer a basis for full strain control of three-level spin systems.

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Fig. 1: Strain focusing with a Gaussian SAW resonator.
Fig. 2: Optically detected acoustic paramagnetic resonance in silicon carbide.
Fig. 3: Coherent mechanical driving of kk spin ensembles.
Fig. 4: Spatially mapping mechanical spin drive rates and defect comparisons.

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Acknowledgements

The devices and experiments were supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research; material for this work was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE). SXDM measurements were performed at the Hard X-ray Nanprobe Beamline, operated by the Center for Nanoscale Materials at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory (contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357). S.J.W. and K.J.S. were supported by the NSF GRFP, C.P.A. was supported by the Department of Defense through the NDSEG Program, and M.V.H., F.J.H., A.N.C., G.G. and D.D.A. were supported by the DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. This work made use of the UChicago MRSEC (NSF DMR-1420709) and Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility, which receives support from the SHyNE, a node of the NSF’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NSF ECCS-1542205). The authors thank P. J. Duda, P. V. Klimov, P. L. Yu, S. A. Bhave, H. Seo and N. Schine for insightful discussions and B. B. Zhou, S. Bayliss and A. L. Yeats for careful reading of the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Samuel J. Whiteley, Gary Wolfowicz.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Samuel J. Whiteley, Gary Wolfowicz, Christopher P. Anderson, Alexandre Bourassa, He Ma, Meng Ye, Kevin J. Satzinger, F. Joseph Heremans, Andrew N. Cleland, Giulia Galli & David D. Awschalom

  2. Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Samuel J. Whiteley, Christopher P. Anderson, Gerwin Koolstra & David I. Schuster

  3. Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Gary Wolfowicz

  4. Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    He Ma & Giulia Galli

  5. The James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Gerwin Koolstra & David I. Schuster

  6. Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Kevin J. Satzinger

  7. Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA

    Martin V. Holt

  8. Institute for Molecular Engineering and Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA

    F. Joseph Heremans, Andrew N. Cleland, Giulia Galli & David D. Awschalom

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Contributions

S.J.W. fabricated devices. S.J.W. and G.W. performed the experiments and data analysis. C.P.A. and A.B. processed materials. H.M. and M.Y. performed DFT calculations. K.J.S. and G.K. helped with device characterization. M.V.H. executed X-ray imaging experiments. F.J.H., A.N.C., D.I.S., G.G. and D.D.A. advised on all efforts. All authors contributed to discussions and production of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to David D. Awschalom.

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Supplementary Figures 1–9, Supplementary Tables 1–3 and Supplementary References 1–64.

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Whiteley, S.J., Wolfowicz, G., Anderson, C.P. et al. Spin–phonon interactions in silicon carbide addressed by Gaussian acoustics. Nat. Phys. 15, 490–495 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0420-0

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