The SiV defect center in diamond has among the largest measured strain susceptibility of all solid-state atomic defect centers. It is therefore a prime candidate for the demonstration of strong interactions between an artificial atom and single phonons (quanta of vibration).

By integrating SiV centers with high quality factor nanomechanical resonators in cryogenic environments, we hope to demonstrate this coupling which could be a promising path towards scalable quantum computers and chip-scale quantum networks.

Our group’s current research focuses on several different forms of nanoscale mechanical motion. One involves defect modes inside of phononic crystals (see optomechanical crystals section).

Another involves driving surface acoustic waves (SAW) across the diamond, resonantly and coherently driving the spin of the SiV. SAW-based spin-phonon coupling has the advantage of being controllable - we can turn the source of SAW on and off and tune its frequency and magnitude. We are working on making SAW-based devices with higher coupling between the spin and the phonons and with better measurement and initialization access. This will allow us to reach new experimental regimes.