The uncontrolled interaction of a quantum system with its environment is detrimental for quantum coherence. In the context of solid-state qubits, techniques to mitigate the impact of fluctuating electric and magnetic fields from the environment are well-developed. In contrast, suppression of decoherence from thermal lattice vibrations is typically achieved only by lowering the temperature of operation. Here, we use a nano-electro-mechanical system (NEMS) to mitigate the effect of thermal phonons on a solid-state quantum emitter without changing the system temperature. We study the silicon-vacancy (SiV) colour centre in diamond which has optical and spin transitions that are highly sensitive to phonons. First, we show that its electronic orbitals are highly susceptible to local strain, leading to its high sensitivity to phonons. By controlling the strain environment, we manipulate the electronic levels of the emitter to probe, control, and eventually, suppress its interaction with the thermal phonon bath. Strain control allows for both an impressive range of optical tunability and significantly improved spin coherence. Finally, our findings indicate that it may be possible to achieve strong coupling between the SiV spin and single phonons, which can lead to the realisation of phonon-mediated quantum gates and nonlinear quantum phononics.

Single-crystal α-quartz, one of the most widely used piezoelectric materials, has enabled a wide range of timing applications. Owing to the fact that integrated thin-film based quartz platform is not available, most of these applications rely on macroscopic, bulk crystal-based devices. Here we show that the Faraday cage angled-etching technique can be used to realize nanoscale electromechanical and photonic devices in quartz. Using this approach, we demonstrate quartz nanomechanical cantilevers and ring resonators featuring Qs of 4,900 and 8,900, respectively.