Surface Electric noise due to drift-diffusion charge fluctuations*

Surface and interface electric noise limit spin center- and rare earth ions-based quantum technologies [1,2,3]. In this work, we study the surface electric noise originating from fluctuating surface charges via diffusion-drift processes with finite charge carrier lifetime. We determine the electric noise profiles as a function of the distance from the crystal surface and the frequency of the qubit or quantum emitter. We find that the presence of an external electric field suppresses the charge noise, which, in turn, prolongs the qubit relaxation time and optical linewidth of the quantum emitter. We use this theory to find the conditions for optimal noise suppression for both rare earth ions and spin centers embedded in crystals. This work allows to increase quantum sensing capabilities and photon indistinguishability.

Reference:

1.    Denis R. Candido and Michael E. Flatté. "Theory of spin center sensing of diffusion." https://arxiv.org/pdf/2112.15581.pdf

2.    Zheng Liu et al., "Electric field manipulation enhanced by strong spin-orbit coupling: promoting rare-earth ions as qubits." National Science Review, 7(10):1557-1563, Oct 2020.

3.    Yang, J. et. al., (2022). Spectral broadening of a single er3+ ion in a si nanotransistor. Physical Review Applied, 18:034018.