Coherent Control of a Nitrogen-Vacancy Center Spin Ensemble with a Diamond Mechanical Resonator

Coherent control of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond's triplet spin state has traditionally been accomplished with resonant ac magnetic fields under the constraint of the magnetic dipole selection rule, which forbids direct control of the |-1>leftrightarrow |+1> spin transition. We show that high-frequency stress resonant with the spin state splitting can coherently control NV center spins within this subspace. Using a bulk-mode mechanical microresonator fabricated from single-crystal diamond, we apply intense ac stress to the diamond substrate and observe mechanically driven Rabi oscillations between the |-1> and |+1> states of an NV center spin ensemble. Additionally, we measure the inhomogeneous spin dephasing time $T₂^*$ of the spin ensemble using a mechanical Ramsey sequence and compare it to the dephasing times measured with a magnetic Ramsey sequence for each of the three spin qubit combinations available within the NV center ground state. These results demonstrate coherent spin driving with a mechanical resonator and could enable the creation of a phase-sensitive Δ-system within the NV center ground state.