2009/02/28 by A. Batalov, V. Jacques, F. Kaiser +7 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.102.195506
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 195506 (2009) · 4 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2009/05/18 · arxiv updated 2015/05/12
We report a study of the 3E excited-state structure of single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects in diamond, combining resonant excitation at cryogenic temperatures and optically detected magnetic resonance. A theoretical model of the excited-state structure is developed and shows excellent agreement with experimental observations. Besides, we show that the two orbital branches associated with the 3E excited-state are averaged when operating at room temperature. This study leads to an improved physical understanding of the NV defect electronic structure, which is invaluable for the development of diamond-based quantum information processing.