Optical polarization of nuclear spins in silicon carbide

Abram L. Falk, Paul V. Klimov, Viktor Ivády, Krisztián Szász, David J. Christle, William F. Koehl, Ádám Gali, David D. Awschalom

Published 2015-02-26Version 1

We demonstrate optically pumped dynamic nuclear polarization of 29-Si nuclear spins that are strongly coupled to paramagnetic color centers in 4H- and 6H-SiC. The 99 +/- 1% degree of polarization at room temperature corresponds to an effective nuclear temperature of 5 microKelvin. By combining ab initio theory with the experimental identification of the color centers' optically excited states, we quantitatively model how the polarization derives from hyperfine-mediated level anticrossings. These results lay a foundation for SiC-based quantum memories, nuclear gyroscopes, and hyperpolarized probes for magnetic resonance imaging.