All-optical control of a single electron spin in diamond

Precise coherent control of the individual electronic spins associated with atomlike impurities in the solid state is essential for applications in quantum information processing and quantum metrology. We demonstrate all-optical initialization, fast coherent manipulation, and readout of the electronic spin of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) center in diamond at T similar to 7 K. We then present the observation of a novel double-dark resonance in the spectroscopy of an individual NV center. These techniques open the door for new applications ranging from robust manipulation of spin states using geometric quantum gates to quantum sensing and information processing.