Control of local lattice perturbations near optically-active defects in semiconductors is a key step to harnessing the potential of solid-state qubits for quantum information science and nanoscale sensing. We report the development of a stroboscopic scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy approach for real-space imaging of dynamic strain used in correlation with microscopic photoluminescence measurements. We demonstrate this technique in 4H-SiC, which hosts long-lifetime room temperature vacancy spin defects. Using nano-focused X-ray photon pulses synchronized to a surface acoustic wave launcher, we achieve an effective time resolution of 100 ps at a 25 nm spatial resolution to map micro-radian dynamic lattice curvatures. The acoustically induced lattice distortions near an engineered scattering structure are correlated with enhanced photoluminescence responses of optically-active SiC quantum defects driven by local piezoelectric effects. These results demonstrate a unique route for directly imaging local strain in nanomechanical structures and quantifying dynamic structure-function relationships in materials under realistic operating conditions.
@article{arxiv.1808.04920,
title = {Correlating dynamic strain and photoluminescence of solid-state defects with stroboscopic x-ray diffraction microscopy},
author = {S. J. Whiteley and F. J. Heremans and G. Wolfowicz and D. D. Awschalom and M. V. Holt},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1808.04920},
year = {2019}
}