Principal Investigator Paola Cappellaro
The Nitrogen-Vacancy center has recently emerged as a versatile tool for magnetic resonance,quantum optics, precision measurement and quantum information processing. The NV center is a localized impurity in diamond, consisting of a nitrogen substitutional atom close to a vacancy. Commonly found in natural diamond, it can as well be created in controlled densities and positions. Single NV centers are addressed using optical scanningconfocal microscopy with excitation at 532 nm and fluorescence detection over the range 600-800 nm. The NV center stands out among solid state systems because its electronic spin (S=1) can be efficiently prepared, manipulated and measured with optical and microwave excitation, even at room temperature. The great potential of the NV center for QIS is also due to its very good coherence properties, with decohrence times approaching milliseconds.