Spin Alignment of NV− Centers in 4H- and 6H-SiC Crystals Induced by IR and Visible Optical Excitation

It is acknowledged that a solid-state foundation for qubit implementation can be found in optically active high-spin vacancy-type defects (color centers) in semiconductors. Silicon carbide (SiC) crystals serve as a reliable host for defects, positioning them as strong competitors to the well-known nitrogen vacancy \({NV}^{-}\) centers in diamond. This paper reports on photoinduced electron paramagnetic resonance (W-band, 94 GHz) spectroscopy measurements on 4H and 6H polytype SiC crystals which exhibit distinct optically polarizable color centers due to their unique structural and electronic properties. Spin defects such as negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centers and divacancies excited at 532 nm, are present in 4H-SiC. By contrast, only \({NV}^{-}\) centers excited at 980 nm are found in 6H-SiC across a wide temperature range. These features make the 6H-SiC color centers promising for quantum technologies because of their excitation and luminescence in the near-infrared telecommunications range, as well as their ability to selectively target the resonant excitation of individual-based qubits.