TY - JOUR
T1 - Hyperpolarization of nuclear spins
T2 - Polarization blockade
AU - Whaites, O. T.
AU - Ioannou, C. I.
AU - Pingault, B. J.
AU - Van De Stolpe, G. L.
AU - Taminiau, T. H.
AU - Monteiro, T. S.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Efficient hyperpolarization of nuclear spins via optically active defect centers, such as the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond, has great potential for enhancing NMR-based quantum information processing and nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging. Recently, pulse-based protocols have been shown to efficiently transfer optically induced polarization of the electron defect spin to surrounding nuclear spins - at particular resonant pulse intervals. In this work, we investigate the performance of these protocols, both analytically and experimentally, with the electronic spin of a single NV defect. We find that whenever polarization resonances of nuclear spins are near degenerate with a "blocking"spin, which is single spin with stronger off-diagonal coupling to the electronic central spin, they are displaced out of the central resonant region - without, in general, significant weakening in the rate of polarization. We analyze the underlying physical mechanism and obtain a closed-form expression for the displacement. We propose that spin blocking represents a common but overlooked effect in hyperpolarization of nuclear spins and suggest solutions for improved protocol performance in the presence of (naturally occurring) blocking nuclear spins.
AB - Efficient hyperpolarization of nuclear spins via optically active defect centers, such as the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond, has great potential for enhancing NMR-based quantum information processing and nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging. Recently, pulse-based protocols have been shown to efficiently transfer optically induced polarization of the electron defect spin to surrounding nuclear spins - at particular resonant pulse intervals. In this work, we investigate the performance of these protocols, both analytically and experimentally, with the electronic spin of a single NV defect. We find that whenever polarization resonances of nuclear spins are near degenerate with a "blocking"spin, which is single spin with stronger off-diagonal coupling to the electronic central spin, they are displaced out of the central resonant region - without, in general, significant weakening in the rate of polarization. We analyze the underlying physical mechanism and obtain a closed-form expression for the displacement. We propose that spin blocking represents a common but overlooked effect in hyperpolarization of nuclear spins and suggest solutions for improved protocol performance in the presence of (naturally occurring) blocking nuclear spins.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181068514&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.043291
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.043291
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85181068514
SN - 2643-1564
VL - 5
JO - Physical Review Research
JF - Physical Review Research
IS - 4
M1 - 043291
ER -