Abstract

We explore optical coherence and spin dynamics of an isotopically purified 166Er:7LiYF4 crystal below 1 K and at weak magnetic fields < 0.3T. Crystals were grown in our lab and demonstrate narrow inhomogeneous optical broadening down to 16 MHz. Solid-state atomic ensembles with such narrow linewidths are very attractive for implementing of off-resonant Raman quantum memory and for the interfacing of superconducting quantum circuits and telecom C-band optical photons. Both applications require a low magnetic field of ∼10 mT. However, at conventional experimental temperatures T > 1.5 K, optical coherence of Er:LYF crystal attains time scale only at strong magnetic fields above 1.5 T. In the present work, we demonstrate that the deep freezing of Er:LYF crystal below 1 K results in the increase of optical coherence time to at weak fields.

Highlights

  • Rare-earth (RE) doped solids represent today one of the widely exploited materials for the modern laser and telecommunication industry

  • We explore optical coherence and spin dynamics of isotopically purified 166Er:7LiYF4 crystal below 1 Kelvin and at weak magnetic fields

  • We found that at moderate magnetic field, and ultra low temperatures optical dephasing time attains ∼ 10 − 100 μs

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Rare-earth (RE) doped solids represent today one of the widely exploited materials for the modern laser and telecommunication industry. At weak magnetic fields and conventional temperatures of T > 1.5 K, large electronic spins mediate a rapid spin-lattice relaxation process which limits the spin coherence time. In order to attain long coherence time, high magnetic field up to 7 T and low temperatures of 1.5 K are used to polarize an electronic spin bath. By following this prescription the longest optical coherence time of 4.4 ms among solid state systems has been demonstrated for 0.001% Er3+:Y2SiO5 (Er:YSO) [4]. In our previous microwave experiments with erbium doped crystals, it was shown that at sub-Kelvin temperatures substantial polarization of electronic spin bath can be attained already at moderate fields of ∼ 0.1 T. We show how contribution to decoherence of electronic spins depends on magnetic field and temperature

Another motivation of experimenting with narrowband
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND SAMPLE PREPARATION
TRANSMISSION OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY
COHERENT OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY
MAGNETIC FIELD DEPENDENCE OF OPTICAL DEPHASING
Dephasing due to electronic spins
Dephasing due to nuclear spins
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF OPTICAL DEPHASING
Findings
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

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