IP Library Granted Patent US 12,647,259
Granted Patent B2
US 12,647,259 · App. 18/146,085 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Room-temperature coherent spin-photon interface and programmable spin arrays for scalable quantum repeaters

Inventors: Stefan Ivanov Krastanov (Boston, MA); Hamza Raniwala (Cambridge, MA); Hanfeng Wang (Cambridge, MA); Matthew Edwin Trusheim (Cambridge, MA); Laura Kim (Belmont, MA); Dirk Robert Englund (Brookline, MA)
Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
H04L9/0855
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,647,259
App. No.
18/146,085
Granted
Jun 2, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A 1D diamond nanobeam can act as a coherent mechanical interface between spin defect centers in diamond and telecom optical modes. The nanobeam includes embedded mechanical and electric field concentrators with mechanical and optical mode volumes of V m ⁢ e ⁢ c ⁢ h / Λ p 3 ∼ 1 ⁢ 0 - 5 and V opt /λ 3 ˜10 −3 , respectively. With a Group IV vacancy in the concentrator, the nanobeam can operate at spin-mechanical coupling rates approaching 40 MHz with high acousto-optical couplings. This nanobeam, used in an entanglement heralding scheme, can provide high-fidelity Bell pairs between quantum repeaters. Using the mechanical interface as an intermediary between the optical and spin subsystems enables addressing the spin defect center with telecom optics, bypassing the native wavelength of the spin. As the spin is never optically excited or addressed, the device can operate at temperatures up to 40 K with no appreciable spectral diffusion, limited by thermal losses. Optomechanical devices with high spin-mechanical coupling can be useful for quantum repeaters.

Claims (28)

1 . A field programmable spin array comprising:

a substrate;

a waveguide;

an array of color centers formed in the waveguide;

an array of electrodes disposed on opposite sides of the waveguide; and

an array of dielectric structures between the waveguide above the substrate, each dielectric structure in the array of dielectric structures separating a corresponding pair of electrodes in the array of electrodes.

2 . The field programmable spin array of claim 1 , wherein the electrodes in the array of electrodes are configured to apply electric fields to color centers in the array of color centers and the array of dielectric structures is configured to localize the electric fields in the waveguide.

3 . The field programmable spin array of claim 2 , wherein the color centers comprise nitrogen vacancies and the dielectric structures comprise HfO 2 .

4 . The field programmable spin array of claim 2 , wherein the array of electrodes comprises one pair of electrodes per color center in the array of color centers.

5 . The field programmable spin array of claim 2 , wherein the electric fields mediate spin coupling between the color centers and at least one optical mode guided by the waveguide.

6 . The field programmable spin array of claim 2 , wherein the electric fields enable selective coupling of a mode propagating in the waveguide to one of the color centers.

7 . The field programmable spin array of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric structures in the array of dielectric structures are piezoelectric dielectric structures, the electrodes in the array of electrodes are configured to apply voltages to the piezoelectric dielectric structures, and the piezoelectric dielectric structures are configured to apply strain to color centers in the array of color centers in response to the voltages.

8 . The field programmable spin array of claim 7 , wherein the color centers comprise silicon vacancies and the piezoelectric dielectric structures comprise AlN.

9 . The field programmable spin array of claim 7 , wherein the array of electrodes comprises two pairs of electrodes per color center in the array of color centers.

10 . The field programmable spin array of claim 7 , wherein the strain mediates spin coupling between the color centers and at least one optical mode guided by the waveguide.

11 . The field programmable spin array of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide is a diamond waveguide and the array of color centers is an array of nitrogen vacancies in the diamond waveguide.

12 . The field programmable spin array of claim 1 , wherein the array of dielectric structures is a periodic array of dielectric structures that forms, with the waveguide, a slow-light photonic crystal waveguide.

13 . The field programmable spin array of claim 1 , in combination with a tree of Mach-Zehnder interferometers.

14 . An apparatus comprising:

an optomechanical crystal defining a mechanical resonator strain-coupled to an optical resonator; and

a color center embedded in the optomechanical crystal and resonant with the mechanical resonator.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the optomechanical crystal is patterned with elliptical holes having major and minor axes that vary as a function of distance from a center of the optomechanical crystal.

16 . A method comprising:

transferring a state of a color center embedded in a optomechanical crystal to a mechanical mode of a mechanical resonator formed in the optomechanical crystal;

transferring the state of the color center from the mechanical mode of the mechanical resonator to an optical mode of an optical resonator; and

reading the state of the color center from the optical mode of the optical resonator.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein transferring the state of the color center to the mechanical mode occurs via strain coupling.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein transferring the state of the color center to the optical mode occurs via strain coupling.

Assignments (2)
CONFIRMATORY LICENSE Recorded Apr 28, 2025
From: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
To: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Reel/Frame 071084/0324 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 12, 2023
From: KRASTANOV, STEFAN IVANOV; RANIWALA, HAMZA; WANG, HANFENG; TRUSHEIM, MATTHEW EDWIN; KIM, LAURA; ENGLUND, DIRK ROBERT
To: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Reel/Frame 065844/0705 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 63323763 · Mar 25, 2022
Provisional Application 63293479 · Dec 23, 2021
Related Publication 20230208628A1 · Jun 29, 2023
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