Electrically detected spin readout experiments. Conduction electrons (green) flow through a silicon chip and can only be trapped by phosphorus atoms with a different electron spin (blue). This spin-trap was used to measure the longest electrically-detected spin coherence: G. W. Morley et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 207602 (2008). The same experiment was also used to initialize the nuclear spins (red arrows) and to electrically readout their state after storing information therein for over 100 seconds. D. R. McCamey, J. van Tol, G. W. Morley & C. Boehme, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 027601 (2009), and D. R. McCamey, J. van Tol, G. W. Morley & C. Boehme, Science 330, 1652 (2010).

Image courtesy: Dr. Gavin W. Morley, University College London.