Scandium-based point defect in AlN for quantum information processing

Point defects in wide-band-gap semiconductors are leading qubit candidates for realizing quantum information processing. The authors investigate here the electronic structure and magneto-optical properties of scandium-related point defects in AlN, a material widely used in electronics and optoelectronics. The positively charged scandium\ensuremath{-}nitrogen-vacancy complex, which has a singlet ground state, exhibits a spin polarization cycle similar to the $S\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}T1$ center in diamond, with long coherence time resulting from an electron spin being transferred to a nuclear spin, and large optically detected magnetic resonance readout contrast. These properties render the center promising for use as a quantum memory.