Strain-induced nuclear quadrupole splittings in silicon devices
In spin-based quantum information processing devices, the presence of control and detection circuitry can change the local environment of a spin by introducing strain and electric fields, altering its resonant frequencies. These resonance shifts can be large compared to intrinsic spin line-widths and it is therefore important to study, understand and model such effects in order to better predict device performance. Here we investigate a sample of bismuth donor spins implanted in a silicon chip, on top of which a superconducting aluminium micro-resonator has been fabricated. The on-chip resonator provides two functions: first, it produces local strain in the silicon due to the thermal contraction of the aluminium, and second, it enables sensitive electron spin resonance spectroscopy of donors close to the surface that experience this strain. Through finite-element strain simulations and effective mass theory calculations of the donor electron wavefunction, we are able to reconstruct key features of our experiments, including the electron spin resonance spectra. Our results reveal a large strain-induced quadrupole interaction in the bismuth donors, of order 100 MHz.