Advances in solid-state quantum information processing turned to have a large impact on other fields of physics, thanks to the numerous entanglement based processes and protocols that were worked out in recent years. In this seminar, we consider such a process, the optical dynamic nuclear spin polarization (ODNP) process, which may become an important part of future quantum information processing, nanoscale metrology, and sensitivity-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance applications.
Briefly, we first shortly review the physics of important paramagnetic point defects in semiconductors that serve as optically addressable solid-state quantum bits. We consider the optical electron spin polarization cycle, heterogeneous electron - nuclear spin systems, and the possibility of spin polarization transfer via the hyperfine interaction. Then, we review ODNP and introduce a general model allows us to understand different aspects of this process. Finally, we discuss recent results on the ground state ODNP of weakly coupled nuclei.

[1] A. L. Falk et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 247603 (2015).
[2] V. Ivády et al, Phys. Rev. B 92, 115206 (2015).