Harnessing Nitrogen Vacancy Centers for Hybrid Quantum Information Systems

目前，量子信息技术已经取得了很大的进展。新兴的量子信息应用作为一个变革性的操作平台，实现了前所未有的数据存储量、处理速度、并行化以及针对随机和恶性扰动的鲁棒策略。许多这些优势来自于它们的量子力学特性，这些特性赋予了它们出色的量子相干性、可控纠缠和高保真度的操作，这使得它们有机会超越经典的同行。氮空位中心被称为单自旋量子比特，是金刚石中的光学活性原子缺陷，以其固有的长相干时间、单自旋寻址性和在宽温度范围内的显著通用性而闻名，为设计多功能量子信息系统提供了非凡的机会。本提案旨在将氮空位中心与功能自旋电子器件集成以开发混合量子架构，为开发基于氮空位的量子计算机提供机会。该研究项目将促进物理系和工学系研究生和本科生的多元化参与，并将向附近的高中和社区大学进行讲座和演示等推广活动。拟议的研究和教育活动将提高社会对材料科学和量子信息技术的认识。本研究的目标是通过自旋力矩纳米振荡器产生的局域微波磁场来电操纵氮空位中心的量子自旋态，从而解决氮空位中心量子计算面临的主要挑战。通过引入由一维磁耦合器维持的单磁振子模式，可以建立远距离氮空位自旋量子比特之间的宏观尺度纠缠态。自旋力矩纳米振荡器与氮空位中心之间的相互作用可以以可扩展的方式控制到亚微米范围，这大大提高了量子电子器件中氮空位中心的可扩展性。通过开发基于氮空位-磁振子的混合量子系统并演示其在环境中的运行，提出了一种兼容的、基于固态的量子运算平台，该平台可以方便地扩展到片上器件。预计这将为设计高密度、可扩展的量子存储器提供新的机会，并显著促进氮空位中心在下一代量子技术发展中的作用。该研究还将阐明自旋扭矩纳米振荡器的有趣科学。氮空位中心将为纳米自旋电子系统中潜在的自旋输运和动态行为提供信息，并为设计先进的磁性材料提供指导，以提高自旋电子器件的性能，为未来的信息技术变革提供指导。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Currently much progress has been witnessed in the quantum-information technologies. The emerging quantum information applications serve as a transformative operation platform enabling an unprecedented data storage volume, processing speed, parallelization, as well as robust strategies against random and malignant perturbations. Many of those advantages derive from their quantum-mechanical nature endowed by excellent quantum coherence, controllable entanglement, and high fidelity of operations, which enable opportunities for outperforming their classical counterparts. Known as single-spin quantum bits, nitrogen vacancy centers, optically-active atomic defects in diamond, are known for their intrinsically long coherence time, single-spin addressability, and notable versatility in a broad temperature range, offering remarkable opportunities in designing multifunctional quantum-information systems. This proposal aims to integrate nitrogen vacancy centers with functional spintronic devices to develop hybrid quantum architectures, providing opportunities to develop nitrogen-vacancy-based quantum computers. The proposed research project will promote the participation of a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students from physics and engineering departments and outreach activities will include lectures and demos to nearby high schools and community colleges. The proposed research and education activities will increase the society’s awareness in material science and quantum information technologies.The goal of this study is to address the major challenges facing quantum-computing with nitrogen vacancy centers by electrically manipulating the quantum spin states of nitrogen vacancy centers via the localized microwave magnetic fields generated by spin-torque nano-oscillators. By introducing the single-magnon mode sustained by a one-dimensional magnetic coupler, macroscale entanglement between distant nitrogen vacancy spin qubits can be established. The mutual interaction between spin-torque nano-oscillators and nitrogen vacancy centers can be controlled in a scalable fashion down to a sub-micrometer regime, which significantly improves the scalability of nitrogen vacancy centers in developing quantum electronic devices. By developing nitrogen-vacancy-magnon-based hybrid quantum systems and demonstrating their operation in an ambient environment, it is proposed a compatible, solid-state-based quantum-operation platform, which can be conveniently extended to the on-chip devices. It is expected new opportunities will emerge for designing high-density, scalable quantum memory and significantly promote the role of nitrogen vacancy centers in developing next-generation quantum technologies. The study will also elucidate the intriguing science of spin-torque nano-oscillators. Nitrogen vacancy centers will provide information to access the underlying spin transport and dynamic behaviors in nano-spintronic systems and provide guidelines to design advanced magnetic materials to improve the performance of spintronic electronics for future transformative information technologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.