Coherent Electric Field Control of Orbital State of a Neutral Nitrogen-Vacancy Center*

The coherent control of the orbital state is crucial for realizing the extremely-low power manipulation of the color centers in diamonds. Herein, a neutrally-charged nitrogen-vacancy center, NV⁰, is proposed as an ideal system for orbital control using electric fields. The electric susceptibility in the ground state of NV⁰ is estimated, and found to be comparable to that in the excited state of NV^-. Also, the coherent control of the orbital states of NV⁰ is demonstrated. The required power for orbital control is three orders of magnitude smaller than that for spin control, highlighting the potential for interfacing a superconducting qubit operated in a dilution refrigerator.