RESUMEN
Spins in solids are cornerstone elements of quantum spintronics. Leading contenders such as defects in diamond or individual phosphorus dopants in silicon have shown spectacular progress, but either lack established nanotechnology or an efficient spin/photon interface. Silicon carbide (SiC) combines the strength of both systems: it has a large bandgap with deep defects and benefits from mature fabrication techniques. Here, we report the characterization of photoluminescence and optical spin polarization from single silicon vacancies in SiC, and demonstrate that single spins can be addressed at room temperature. We show coherent control of a single defect spin and find long spin coherence times under ambient conditions. Our study provides evidence that SiC is a promising system for atomic-scale spintronics and quantum technology.
RESUMEN
An appealing avenue for organic spintronics lies in direct coherent control of the spin population by means of pulsed electron spin resonance techniques. Whereas previous work has focused on the electrical detection of coherent spin dynamics, we demonstrate here the equivalence of an all-optical approach, allowing us to explore the influence of materials chemistry on the spin dynamics. We show that deuteration of the conjugated polymer side groups weakens the local hyperfine fields experienced by electron-hole pairs, thereby lowering the threshold for the resonant radiation intensity at which coherent coupling and spin beating occur. The technique is exquisitively sensitive to previously obscured material properties and offers a route to quantifying and tuning hyperfine fields in organic semiconductors.