Coherent coupling of a superconducting flux qubit to an electron spin ensemble in diamond

We have experimentally demonstrated coherent strong coupling between a single macroscopic superconducting artificial atom (a gap tunable flux qubit [1]) and an ensemble of electron spins in the form of nitrogen--vacancy color centres in diamond. We have observed coherent exchange of a single quantum of energy between a flux qubit and a macroscopic ensemble consisting of about 3.0*10$^{7}$ NV- centers [2]. This is the first step towards the realization of a long-lived quantum memory and hybrid devices coupling microwave and optical systems. [1] \textit{Coherent operation of a gap-tunable flux qubit} X. B. Zhu, A. Kemp, S. Saito, K. Semba, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, Volume: 97, Issue: 10 pp. 102503 (2010) [2] \textit{Coherent coupling of a superconducting flux qubit to an electron spin ensemble in diamond} Xiaobo Zhu, Shiro Saito, Alexander Kemp, Kosuke Kakuyanagi, Shin-ichi Karimoto, Hayato Nakano, William J. Munro, Yasuhiro Tokura, Mark S. Everitt, Kae Nemoto, Makoto Kasu, Norikazu Mizuochi, and Kouichi Semba, Nature, Volume: 478, 221-224 (2011)