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Ab initio calculation of spin-orbit coupling for an NV center in diamond exhibiting dynamic Jahn-Teller effect

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2017-08-24
JournalPhysical review. B./Physical review. B
AuthorsGergő Thiering, ƁdĆ”m Gali
InstitutionsHUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Citations106

Point defects in solids may realize solid state quantum bits. The spin-orbit\ncoupling in these point defects plays a key role in the magneto-optical\nproperties that determine the conditions of quantum bit operation. However,\nexperimental data and methods do not directly yield this highly important data,\nparticularly, for such complex systems where dynamic Jahn-Teller (DJT) effect\ndamps the spin-orbit interaction. Here, we show for an exemplary quantum bit,\nnitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, that \emph{ab initio} supercell\ndensity functional theory provide quantitative prediction for the spin-orbit\ncoupling damped by DJT. We show that DJT is responsible for the multiple\nintersystem crossing rates of NV center at cryogenic temperatures. Our results\npave the way toward optimizing solid state quantum bits for quantum information\nprocessing and metrology applications.\n