Dark-state adiabatic passage with spin-one particles

Adiabatic transport of information is a widely invoked resource in connection with quantum information processing and distribution. The study of adiabatic transport via spin-half chains or clusters is standard in the literature, while in practice the true realization of a completely isolated two-level quantum system is not achievable. We explore here, theoretically, the extension of spin-half chain models to higher spins. Considering arrangements of three spin-one particles, we show that adiabatic transport, specifically a generalization of the dark-state adiabatic passage procedure, is applicable to spin-one systems. We thus demonstrate a qutrit state transfer protocol. We discuss possible ways to physically implement this protocol, considering quantum dot and nitrogen-vacancy implementations.