Neutral oxygen-vacancy defect in cubic boron nitride: A plausible qubit candidate

Experimental feasibility of potential quantum sensing and computing applications based on the oxygen-vacancy defect (VBON center) in cubic boron nitride (c-BN) is theoretically predicted by means of first-principles calculations. The proposed VBON center consisting of a boron vacancy (VB) and an adjacent substitutional oxygen (ON) is a plausible qubit candidate, which is isoelectronic to the NV− center in diamond. We found that the neutral paramagnetic VBON center is spin-triplet and exists mainly in p-type c-BN. The results demonstrate that the zero-field splitting of the neutral VBON center in the ground state falls within the microwave range and has a value of approximately 2980 MHz. Furthermore, the neutral VBON center hyperfine interactions in the ground state are determined to be in the tens of MHz. It is anticipated that our results will pave the way for the neutral VBON center acting as a scalable platform for implementing quantum information processing, sensing, and beyond.Experimental feasibility of potential quantum sensing and computing applications based on the oxygen-vacancy defect (VBON center) in cubic boron nitride (c-BN) is theoretically predicted by means of first-principles calculations. The proposed VBON center consisting of a boron vacancy (VB) and an adjacent substitutional oxygen (ON) is a plausible qubit candidate, which is isoelectronic to the NV− center in diamond. We found that the neutral paramagnetic VBON center is spin-triplet and exists mainly in p-type c-BN. The results demonstrate that the zero-field splitting of the neutral VBON center in the ground state falls within the microwave range and has a value of approximately 2980 MHz. Furthermore, the neutral VBON center hyperfine interactions in the ground state are determined to be in the tens of MHz. It is anticipated that our results will pave the way for the neutral VBON center acting as a scalable platform for implementing quantum information processing, sensing, and beyond.