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Solid-state electron spin lifetime limited by phononic vacuum modes
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics · Submitted 29 Jun 2017
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim The calculations confirm that the low phononic density of states at the $\mathrm{NV}^-$ transition frequency enables the spin polarization to survive over macroscopic timescales.
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The abstract, sentence by sentence
Longitudinal relaxation is the process by which an excited spin ensemble decays into its thermal equilibrium with the environment. In solid-state spin systems relaxation into the phonon bath usually dominates over the coupling to the electromagnetic vacuum. In the quantum limit the spin lifetime is determined by phononic vacuum fluctuations. However, this limit was not observed in previous studies due to thermal phonon contributions or phonon-bottleneck processes. Here we use a dispersive detection scheme based on cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) to observe this quantum limit of spin relaxation of the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy ($\mathrm{NV}^-$) centre in diamond. Diamond possesses high thermal conductivity even at low temperatures, which eliminates phonon-bottleneck processes. We observe exceptionally long longitudinal relaxation times $T_1$ of up to 8h. To understand the fundamental mechanism of spin-phonon coupling in this system we develop a theoretical model and calculate the relaxation time ab initio. The calculations confirm that the low phononic density of states at the $\mathrm{NV}^-$ transition frequency enables the spin polarization to survive over macroscopic timescales.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | Longitudinal relaxation is the process by which an excited spin ensemble decays into its thermal equilibrium with the environment. | background 1.00 | 0.04 | 0.02 | asserted 1.00 |
| s1 | In solid-state spin systems relaxation into the phonon bath usually dominates over the coupling to the electromagnetic vacuum. | background 1.00 | 0.04 | 0.03 | asserted 0.92 |
| s2 | In the quantum limit the spin lifetime is determined by phononic vacuum fluctuations. | background 1.00 | 0.07 | 0.21 | asserted 1.00 |
| s3 | However, this limit was not observed in previous studies due to thermal phonon contributions or phonon-bottleneck processes. | gap 0.99 | 0.04 | 0.04 | asserted 1.00 |
| s4 | Here we use a dispersive detection scheme based on cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) to observe this quantum limit of spin relaxation of the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy ($\mathrm{NV}^-$) centre in diamond. | method 0.58 | 0.96 | 0.08 | asserted 1.00 |
| s5 | Diamond possesses high thermal conductivity even at low temperatures, which eliminates phonon-bottleneck processes. | background 0.51 | 0.15 | 0.04 | asserted 1.00 |
| s6 | We observe exceptionally long longitudinal relaxation times $T_1$ of up to 8h. | result 1.00 | 0.97 | 0.46 | asserted 1.00 |
| s7 | To understand the fundamental mechanism of spin-phonon coupling in this system we develop a theoretical model and calculate the relaxation time ab initio. | method 0.92 | 0.95 | 0.04 | asserted 0.92 |
| s8 | The calculations confirm that the low phononic density of states at the $\mathrm{NV}^-$ transition frequency enables the spin polarization to survive over macroscopic timescales. | interpretation 0.85 | 0.91 | 0.54 | asserted 1.00 |
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The paper
Original abstract
Longitudinal relaxation is the process by which an excited spin ensemble decays into its thermal equilibrium with the environment. In solid-state spin systems relaxation into the phonon bath usually dominates over the coupling to the electromagnetic vacuum. In the quantum limit the spin lifetime is determined by phononic vacuum fluctuations. However, this limit was not observed in previous studies due to thermal phonon contributions or phonon-bottleneck processes. Here we use a dispersive detection scheme based on cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) to observe this quantum limit of spin relaxation of the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy ($\mathrm{NV}^-$) centre in diamond. Diamond possesses high thermal conductivity even at low temperatures, which eliminates phonon-bottleneck processes. We observe exceptionally long longitudinal relaxation times $T_1$ of up to 8h. To understand the fundamental mechanism of spin-phonon coupling in this system we develop a theoretical model and calculate the relaxation time ab initio. The calculations confirm that the low phononic density of states at the $\mathrm{NV}^-$ transition frequency enables the spin polarization to survive over macroscopic timescales.
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References
How the literature uses it
3 arXiv papers cite this in 12 sentences
Papers citing it · 6 sentences without a confident label
Builds on it 1 paper
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Our approach builds on previous contributions from ourselves [ref] and others [ref] and significantly extends the state of the art in the field.
Spin-Phonon Relaxation in Molecular Qubits from First Principles Spin Dynamics · Introduction · 1.00
Uses its data or values 2 papers
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Spin Decay The longitudinal decay of the NV ensemble $γ_∥$ is quantified using a dispersive measurement scheme, and exhibits the small value of 3e-5, mediated by spin-phonon interactions [ref] .
Superradiant Hybrid Quantum Devices · Introduction · 0.92
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The $A_1$, $A_2$, and $A_3$ parameters can be found by fitting to the experimental data at low temperature (below 1 K) [ref] as described in Sec.IV.A.1.
Spin-lattice relaxation of individual solid-state spins · High-temperature limit · 0.87
Compares with it 1 paper
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This is consistent with the longitudinal relaxation rate recently measured and estimated by ab initio methods in Ref. [ref] (see Fig. [ref]a).
Spin-lattice relaxation of individual solid-state spins · Zero magnetic field · 0.92
Cites it as background 1 paper
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In general, the problem of estimating the thermal dependence of each relaxation process is translated into the problem of calculating the transition rates predicted by the Fermi golden rule for different phonon processes [ref] .
Spin-lattice relaxation of individual solid-state spins · Introduction · 0.81
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