Single Spins in Diamond

Abstract

Coherent control and readout of single spins in solids is attractingconsiderable attention, owing to potential application of atomic-scale technologies in novel information processing protocols andsensing at the nanoscale [38]. Spins are particularly interestingcandidates for achieving such control, owing to the long coherencetime. This isolation from the environment makes the readout ofindividual spins quite challenging. It was shown that the magneticmoment associated with single quantum systems can be detected intransport measurements with single quantum dots [25] and defectsin silicon [81]. Magnetic resonance force microscopy was also ableto reach the ultimate sensitivity regime [65]. Recently developedoptical readout techniques explore new avenue in single-spin de-tection by combining high-sensitivity optical microscopy techniquesand conventional magnetic resonance control methods. Followingdetection of single molecular spin [80], quantum states associatedwith single defects in diamond were explored [29]. Experimentswith single defects in diamond are particularly interesting owing tothe long coherence time associated with spins of color centers. Thischapter shows the basics of single-spin detection and highlights theimportance of coherent control of spins in solids for novel quantumtechnologies.