High-fidelity single-shot readout of single electron spin in diamond with spin-to-charge conversion

High fidelity single-shot readout of qubits is a crucial component for fault-tolerant quantum computing and scalable quantum networks. In recent years, the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond has risen as a leading platform for the above applications. The current single-shot readout of the NV electron spin relies on resonance fluorescence method at cryogenic temperature. However, the spin-flip process interrupts the optical cycling transition, therefore, limits the readout fidelity. Here, we introduce a spin-to-charge conversion method assisted by near-infrared (NIR) light to suppress the spin-flip error. This method leverages high spin-selectivity of cryogenic resonance excitation and flexibility of photoionization. We achieve an overall fidelity > 95% for the single-shot readout of an NV center electron spin in the presence of high strain and fast spin-flip process. With further improvements, this technique has the potential to achieve spin readout fidelity exceeding the fault-tolerant threshold, and may also find applications on integrated optoelectronic devices. The NV centre in diamond has been used extensively in quantum information processing; however fault-tolerant readout of its spin remains challenging. Here, Zhang et al demonstrate a robust scheme that achieves high-fidelity readout via spin to charge conversion.