Non-Markovian Spin-Bath Dynamics of a Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond

For many experiments in quantum information science, it is essential to protect quantum coherence from environmental decoherence sources. While stochastic (Markovian) processes of the decoherence have been studied extensively, non-Markovian processes are often overlooked since they are not captured by simple models. In principle, non-Markovian environmental bath dynamics can present a perspective for understanding and combating quantum decoherence.

We plan to investigate non-Markovian spin-bath dynamics of single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in type-Ib and type-IIa diamond [1]. We show that a simple phenomenological model known as the post-Markovian master equation (PMME) can be used to capture a non-Markovian component of the spin-bath dynamics. We utilize PMME and quantum state tomography measurements to probe non-Markovian spin dynamics of the single NV center. Moreover, the trace-norm distance between two different initial states will be used to quantify the degree of non-Markovianity observed in the NV spin dynamics.