Theory of nuclear spin dephasing and relaxation by optically illuminated nitrogen-vacancy center

Abstract

Dephasing and relaxation of the nuclear spins coupled to the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center during optical initialization and readout is an important issue for various applications of this hybrid quantum register. Here we present both an analytical description and a numerical simulation for this process, which agree reasonably with the experimental measurements. For an NV center under cyclic optical transition, our analytical formulas not only provide a clear physical picture, but also allow control of the nuclear spin dissipation by tuning an external magnetic field. For more general optical pumping, our analytical formulas reveal a significant contribution to the nuclear spin dissipation due to electron random hopping into/out of the m = 0 (or ) subspace. This contribution is not suppressed, even under saturated optical pumping and/or vanishing magnetic field, thus providing a possible solution to the puzzling observation of nuclear spin dephasing in zero perpendicular magnetic field Dutt et al (2007 Science 316 1312). It also implies that enhancing the degree of optical spin polarization of the nitrogen-vacancy center can reduce the effect of optically induced nuclear spin dissipation.