  A quantum register coupled to a spin-photon interface is a key component in
quantum communication and information processing. Group-IV color centers in
diamond (SiV, GeV, and SnV) are promising candidates for this application,
comprising an electronic spin with optical transitions coupled to a nuclear
spin as the quantum register. However, the creation of a quantum register for
these color centers with deterministic and strong coupling to the spin-photon
interface remains challenging. Here, we make first-principles predictions of
the hyperfine parameters of the group-IV color centers, which we verify
experimentally with a comprehensive comparison between the spectra of spin
active and spin neutral intrinsic dopant nuclei in single GeV and SnV emitters.
In line with the theoretical predictions, detailed spectroscopy on large sample
sizes reveals that hyperfine coupling causes a splitting of the optical
transition of SnV an order of magnitude larger than the optical linewidth and
provides a magnetic-field insensitive transition. This strong coupling provides
access to a new regime for quantum registers in diamond color centers, opening
avenues for novel spin-photon entanglement and quantum sensing schemes for
these well-studied emitters.
