Coherent Optical Control of a Single Donor Electron Spin

Abstract

Coherent spin-photon interfaces are essential for scalable quantum networks, but their realization requires optically bright transitions, long-lived spin coherence, and complete coherent control. Donor-bound electron spins in II-VI semiconductors offer an attractive platform for optically active spin qubits because they combine strong donor-bound exciton transitions in a direct-bandgap material with a potentially nuclear-spin-free environment. However, coherent control of an individual optically active donor spin has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate optical initialization, coherent control, and readout of a single donor-bound electron spin in ZnSe. Using spin-selective donor-bound exciton optical transitions, we initialize the electron spin and directly resolve its spin-relaxation dynamics. We achieve coherent spin control with off-resonant picosecond optical pulses, as demonstrated by spin Rabi oscillations and Ramsey interference. We further coherently drive two spin-selective optical transitions and observe high-contrast coherent population trapping, demonstrating the formation of an optically controlled dark state. At higher driving strengths, multiple dark resonances reveal the hyperfine interaction between the electron and the I = 3/2 Cl nucleus. These results establish the first coherent optical control of a single donor electron spin in a II-VI semiconductor and identify isolated optical donors as a promising platform for solid-state optically active qubits.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{jiang2026coherent,
  title = {{Coherent Optical Control of a Single Donor Electron Spin}},
  author = {Yuxi Jiang and Amirehsan Alizadehherfati and Christine Falter and Jasvith R. Basani and Nils von den Driesch and Yurii Kutovyi and Jan Seelbinder and Alexander Pawlis and Edo Waks},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.36423},
  eprint = {2610.36423},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.36423},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Coherent Optical Control of a Single Donor Electron Spin
AU  - Yuxi Jiang
AU  - Amirehsan Alizadehherfati
AU  - Christine Falter
AU  - Jasvith R. Basani
AU  - Nils von den Driesch
AU  - Yurii Kutovyi
AU  - Jan Seelbinder
AU  - Alexander Pawlis
AU  - Edo Waks
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/27
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.36423
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.36423
AB  - Coherent spin-photon interfaces are essential for scalable quantum networks, but their realization requires optically bright transitions, long-lived spin coherence, and complete coherent control. Donor-bound electron spins in II-VI semiconductors offer an attractive platform for optically active spin qubits because they combine strong donor-bound exciton transitions in a direct-bandgap material with a potentially nuclear-spin-free environment. However, coherent control of an individual optically active donor spin has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate optical initialization, coherent control, and readout of a single donor-bound electron spin in ZnSe. Using spin-selective donor-bound exciton optical transitions, we initialize the electron spin and directly resolve its spin-relaxation dynamics. We achieve coherent spin control with off-resonant picosecond optical pulses, as demonstrated by spin Rabi oscillations and Ramsey interference. We further coherently drive two spin-selective optical transitions and observe high-contrast coherent population trapping, demonstrating the formation of an optically controlled dark state. At higher driving strengths, multiple dark resonances reveal the hyperfine interaction between the electron and the I = 3/2 Cl nucleus. These results establish the first coherent optical control of a single donor electron spin in a II-VI semiconductor and identify isolated optical donors as a promising platform for solid-state optically active qubits.
ER  -

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