Nuclear Spin Dynamics of Ionized Phosphorus Donors in Silicon

Abstract

We demonstrate the coherent control and electrical readout of the nuclear spins of ionized phosphorus donors in natural silicon. By combining pulsed illumination with coherent electron spin manipulation, we selectively ionize the donor depending on its nuclear spin state, exploiting a spin-dependent recombination process via a spin pair at the Si/SiO2 interface. The nuclear-spin coherence time of the ionized donor is 18 ms, two orders of magnitude longer than in the neutral donor state, rendering the ionized donor a potential resource as a quantum memory. The presented experimental techniques allow for spectroscopy of ionized-donor nuclear spins, increase the sensitivity of electrically detected electron nuclear double resonance by more than two orders of magnitude, and give experimental access to the lifetime of parallel electron spin pairs.