Science blogs around the world echo our Science Advances paper on NV charge control. Below is an example from Israel.

To view the Nature Reviews article, click here.

A major barrier in the development of large-scale quantum information processing in diamond is the connection of nitrogen-vacancy spin registers. Given that diamond is expected to be an ideal spin transport material, the coherent transport of spin directly between the spin registers offers a potential solution. Yet, there has been no demonstration of spin transport in diamond due to difficulties in achieving spin injection and detection via conventional methods. This article exploits detailed knowledge of the paramagnetic defects in diamond to identify novel mechanisms to photo-ionize, transport, and capture spin-polarized electrons in diamond at room temperature. In particular,  we explore how these mechanisms may be combined to realize an on-chip spin quantum bus at room temperature.

Click here to see coverage by the New York Times.

See prior related posts for a description on the article content. Press media articles related to our work can be found in Phys.Org, Eurekalert, LiveScience, among others.

The negatively-charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV^–) center in diamond is the focus of widespread attention for applications ranging from quantum information processing to nanoscale metrology. Although most work so far has focused on the NV^– optical and spin properties, control of the charge state promises complementary opportunities. One intriguing possibility is the long-term storage of information, a notion we hereby introduce using NV rich, type-1b diamond. As a proof of principle, we use multi-color optical microscopy to read, write, and reset arbitrary data sets with 2-D binary bit density comparable to present digital-video-disk (DVD) technology. Leveraging on the singular dynamics of NV^– ionization, we encode information on different planes of the diamond crystal with no cross talk, hence extending the storage capacity to three dimensions. Further, we correlate the center’s charge state and nuclear spin polarization of the nitrogen host, and show that the latter is robust to a cycle of NV^– ionization and recharge. In combination with super-resolution microscopy techniques, these observations provide a route towards sub-diffraction NV charge control, a regime where the storage capacity could exceed present technologies.

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond is emerging as a promising platform for solid-state quantum information processing and nanoscale metrology. Of interest in these applications is the manipulation of the NV charge, which can be attained by optical excitation. Here we use two-color optical microscopy to investigate the dynamics of NV photo-ionization, charge diffusion, and trapping in type-1b diamond. We combine fixed-point laser excitation and scanning fluorescence imaging to locally alter the concentration of negatively charged NVs, and to subsequently probe the corresponding redistribution of charge. We uncover the formation of spatial patterns of trapped charge, which we qualitatively reproduce via a model of the interplay between photo-excited carriers and atomic defects. Further, by using the NV as a probe, we map the relative fraction of positively charged nitrogen upon localized optical excitation. These observations may prove important to transporting quantum information between NVs or to developing three-dimensional, charge-based memories.

See press coverage at AAAS EurekAlert and Physics.Org.

Carlos is the first recipient of the Frontiers in Research Excellence and Discovery (FRED) Award, a new initiative by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. FRED supports innovative, high-risk research, this time aimed at controlling the charge state of individual NV centers with high spatial resolution. Find more details at http://rescorp.org/news/2016/08/ccny-physicist-carlos-meriles-is-first-fred-award-recipient

Felipe Favaro, a senior graduate student from the Wrachtrup group in Stuttgart, Germany will be spending a couple weeks with us to investigate some unique samples he has grown. We are happy to have you here, Felipe! 

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond is emerging as a promising platform for solid-state quantum information processing and nanoscale metrology. Of interest in these applications is the manipulation of the NV charge, which can be attained by optical excitation. Here we use two-color optical microscopy to investigate the dynamics of NV photo-ionization, charge diffusion, and trapping in type-1b diamond. We combine fixed-point laser excitation and scanning fluorescence imaging to locally alter the concentration of negatively charged NVs, and to subsequently probe the corresponding redistribution of charge. We uncover the formation of spatial patterns of trapped charge, which we qualitatively reproduce via a model of the interplay between photo-excited carriers and atomic defects. Further, by using the NV as a probe, we map the relative fraction of positively charged nitrogen upon localized optical excitation. These observations may prove important to transporting quantum information between NVs or to developing three-dimensional, charge-based memories.