A new dimension for spin qubits in diamond
In a series of three papers co-authored with Jayich — one published in PRX in March and the second and third in Nature in October — Hughes demonstrates, for the first time, how not just individual qubits but two-dimensional ensembles of many defects can be arranged and entangled within diamond.
Excerpt from the UCSB Current by James Badham
Working at the intersection of materials science and quantum physics, Jayich and her team explore how engineered defects in diamond — known as spin qubits — can be used for quantum sensing. Among the lab’s standout researchers, Lillian Hughes, who recently earned her Ph.D. and will soon begin postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology, has achieved a major advance in this effort.
In a series of three papers co-authored with Jayich — one published in PRX in March and the second and third in Nature in October — Hughes demonstrates, for the first time, how not just individual qubits but two-dimensional ensembles of many defects can be arranged and entangled within diamond. This breakthrough enables the realization of a metrological quantum advantage in the solid state, marking an important step toward the next generation of quantum technologies.
Well-designed defects
“We can create a configuration of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spins in the diamonds with control over their density and dimensionality, such that they are densely packed and depth-confined into a 2D layer,” Hughes said. “And because we can design how the defects are oriented, we can engineer them to exhibit non-zero dipolar interactions.” This accomplishment was the subject of the PRX paper, titled “A strongly interacting, two-dimensional, dipolar spin ensemble in (111)-oriented diamond.”
For the full article, see the link below
