Week-long-lifetime microwave spectral holes in an erbium-doped scheelite crystal at millikelvin temperature
Rare-earth-ions (REI) doped crystals have remarkable optical and spin properties characterized by narrow homogeneous linewidths, which can be studied despite the large inhomogeneous broadening of the ensemble line through spectral hole burning (SHB). Here, we report SHB spectroscopic measurements in a scheelite crystal of CaWO<sub>4</sub> by pumping the spin transition of a paramagnetic REI (Er<sup>3+</sup>) at microwave frequency and millikelvin temperatures, with nuclear spin states of neighboring <sup>183</sup>W atoms serving as the auxiliary levels. The repeated application of pairs of microwave pulses generates a periodic modulation of the Er<sup>3+</sup> density profile, which we observe spectrally and in the time-domain as an accumulated echo. The lifetime of the holes and accumulated echoes rises steeply as the sample temperature is decreased, exceeding a week at 10mK. Our results demonstrate that millikelvin temperatures can be beneficial for signal processing applications requiring long spectral hole lifetimes.
Authors
- Sen Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9718-4971)
- Miloš Rančić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8672-6771)
- Ren‐Bao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0620-2370)
- D. Vion (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6951-8682)
- D. Estève (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4089-4582)
- T. Chanelière (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1715-9520)
- Patrice Bertet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5427-7254)
- Marianne Le Dantec (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8001-2084)
- Philippe Goldner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8517-0911)
- Emmanuel Flurin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1367-8967)
- Zhiren Wang
- Sylvain Bertaina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6466-8830)
Institutions
- Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université de Sherbrooke (CA)
- Chimie ParisTech - PSL (FR)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Aix-Marseille Université (FR)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Institut des Matériaux, de Microélectronique et des Nanosciences de Provence (FR)
- Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris (FR)
- Direction des Energies (FR)
- CEA Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Institut Néel (FR)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64087-6
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Quantum optics and atomic interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.49
Funders
- European Commission
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity