Andrii Lazariev’s research while affiliated with Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and other places

Understanding the physical origin of noise affecting quantum systems is important for nearly every quantum application. Quantum-noise spectroscopy has been used in various quantum systems, such as superconducting qubits, nitrogen-vacancy centers, and trapped ions. Traditional spectroscopy methods are usually efficient in measuring noise spectra with mostly monotonically decaying contributions. However, there are important scenarios in which the noise spectrum is broadband and nonmonotonous, thus posing a challenge to existing noise-spectroscopy schemes. Here we compare several methods for noise spectroscopy: spectral decomposition based on the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequence, the recently presented dynamic sensitivity control (DYSCO) sequence, and a modified DYSCO sequence with a Gaussian envelope (gDYSCO). The performance of the sequences is quantified by analytic and numeric determination of the frequency resolution, bandwidth, and sensitivity, revealing a supremacy of gDYSCO to reconstruct nontrivial features. Using an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond coupled to a high-density C13-nuclear-spin environment, we experimentally confirm our findings. The combination of the schemes presented offers potential to record high-quality noise spectra as a prerequisite to generate quantum systems unlimited by their spin-bath environment.

Quantum logic: Suppressing noise with geometric phases A demonstration of quantum logic gates based on geometric phases could enable quantum computing in noisy experimental conditions. Developing large-scale quantum computation requires the performance of quantum logic gates to be significantly improved. Quantum logic gates are very sensitive to noise but gates that exploit geometric phases are predicted to be resilient against a common source of noise. However, experimentally realising such strategies is not trivial. Using the electron spin of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, Felix Kleißler and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany demonstrate geometric phase-based quantum logic gates under ambient conditions. This implementation shows that such geometric quantum gates in combination with solid-spin qubit systems are a promising platform for realising large-scale quantum computing in noisy environments.

Geometric phases and holonomies (their non-commuting generalizations) are a promising resource for the realization of high-fidelity quantum operations in noisy devices, due to their intrinsic fault-tolerance against noise and experimental imperfections. Despite their conceptual appeal and proven fault-tolerance, for a long time their practical use in quantum computing was limited to proof of principle demonstrations. Only in 2012 Sj\"oqvist et al. formulated a strategy to generate non-Abelian (i.e. holonomic) quantum gates through non-adiabatic transformation. Successful experimental demonstrations of this concept followed on various physical qubit systems and proved the feasibility of this fast, holonomic quantum gate concept. Despite these successes, the experimental implementation of such non-Abelian quantum gates remains experimentally challenging since in general the emergence of a suitable holonomy requires encoding of the logical qubit within a three (or higher) level system being driven by two (or more) control fields. A very recent proposal by Liang et al. offers an elegant solution generating a non-Abelian, geometric quantum gate on a simple, two-level system driven by one control field. Exploiting the concept of transitionless quantum driving it allows the generation of universal geometric quantum gates through superadiabatic evolution. This concept thus generates fast and robust phase-based quantum gates on the basis of minimal experimental resources. Here, we report on the first such implementation of a set of non-commuting single-qubit superadiabatic geometric quantum gates on the electron spin of the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy center in diamond. The realized quantum gates combine high-fidelity and fast quantum gate performance. This provides a promising and powerful tool for large-scale quantum computing under realistic, noisy experimental conditions.

Understanding the physical origin of noise affecting quantum systems is important for nearly every quantum application. While quantum noise spectroscopy has been employed in various quantum systems, such as superconducting qubits and trapped ions, traditional spectroscopy methods are usually efficient in measuring noise spectra with mostly monotonically decaying contributions. However, there are important scenarios in which the noise spectrum is broadband and non-monotonous, thus posing a challenge to existing noise spectroscopy schemes.Here, we compared several methods for noise spectroscopy: spectral decomposition based on the CPMG sequence, the recently presented DYSCO sequence and a modified DYSCO sequence with a Gaussian envelope (gDYSCO).The performance of the sequences is quantified by analytic and numeric determination of the frequency resolution, bandwidth and sensitivity, revealing a supremacy of gDYSCO to reconstruct non-trivial features.Utilizing an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond coupled to a high density 13C nuclear spin environment, we experimentally confirm our findings.The combination of the presented schemes offers potential to record high quality noise spectra as a prerequisite to generate quantum systems unlimited by their spin-bath environment.

The Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) defect in diamond is a unique quantum system that offers precision sensing of nanoscale physical quantities at room temperature beyond the current state-of-the-art. The benchmark parameters for nanoscale magnetometry applications are sensitivity, spectral resolution, and dynamic range. Under realistic conditions the NV sensors controlled by conventional sensing schemes suffer from limitations of these parameters. Here we experimentally show a new method called dynamical sensitivity control (DYSCO) that boost the benchmark parameters and thus extends the practical applicability of the NV spin for nanoscale sensing. In contrast to conventional dynamical decoupling schemes, where π pulse trains toggle the spin precession abruptly, the DYSCO method allows for a smooth, analog modulation of the quantum probe’s sensitivity. Our method decouples frequency selectivity and spectral resolution unconstrained over the bandwidth (1.85 MHz–392 Hz in our experiments). Using DYSCO we demonstrate high-accuracy NV magnetometry without |2π| ambiguities, an enhancement of the dynamic range by a factor of 4 · 10³, and interrogation times exceeding 2 ms in off-the-shelf diamond. In a broader perspective the DYSCO method provides a handle on the inherent dynamics of quantum systems offering decisive advantages for NV centre based applications notably in quantum information and single molecule NMR/MRI.

The Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) defect in diamond is a unique quantum system that offers precision sensing of nanoscale physical quantities beyond the current state-of-the-art. Here we present a method to controllably encode the interactions in the population of the spin states, thereby introducing a way to control the sensitivity of a single spin as a continuum in contrast to free-evolution based methods. By adopting this feature we demonstrate high-accuracy NV magnetometry without 2pi ambiguities, enhance the dynamic range by a factor of 4*10^3 achieve interaction times exceeding 2 ms in off-the-shelf diamond. We perform nuclear spin-noise spectroscopy in the frequency domain by dynamically controlling the NV spin's sensitivity piecewise and in a smooth manner thereby precluding harmonic artefacts and undesired interactions. On a broader perspective dynamical sensitivity control provides an elegant handle on the inherent dynamics of quantum systems, while offering decisive advantages for NV centre applications notably in quantum controls and single molecule NMR/MRI.

The Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) defect in diamond is a unique quantum system that offers precision sensing of nanoscale physical quantities beyond the current state-of-the-art. Here we present a method to controllably encode the interactions in the population of the spin states, thereby introducing a way to control the sensitivity of a single spin as a continuum in contrast to free-evolution based methods. By adopting this feature we demonstrate high-accuracy NV magnetometry without 2pi ambiguities, enhance the dynamic range by a factor of 4*10^3 achieve interaction times exceeding 2 ms in off-the-shelf diamond. We perform nuclear spin-noise spectroscopy in the frequency domain by dynamically controlling the NV spin's sensitivity piecewise and in a smooth manner thereby precluding harmonic artefacts and undesired interactions. On a broader perspective dynamical sensitivity control provides an elegant handle on the inherent dynamics of quantum systems, while offering decisive advantages for NV centre applications notably in quantum controls and single molecule NMR/MRI.

Methods and techniques to measure and image beyond the state-of-the-art have always been influential in propelling basic science and technology. Because current technologies are venturing into nanoscopic and molecular-scale fabrication, atomic-scale measurement techniques are inevitable. One such emerging sensing method uses the spins associated with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects in diamond. The uniqueness of this NV sensor is its atomic size and ability to perform precision sensing under ambient conditions conveniently using light and microwaves (MW). These advantages have unique applications in nanoscale sensing and imaging of magnetic fields from nuclear spins in single biomolecules. During the last few years, several encouraging results have emerged towards the realization of an NV spin-based molecular structure microscope. Here, we present a projection-reconstruction method that retrieves the three-dimensional structure of a single molecule from the nuclear spin noise signatures. We validate this method using numerical simulations and reconstruct the structure of a molecular phantom \b{eta}-cyclodextrin, revealing the characteristic toroidal shape.

At its most fundamental level, circuit-based quantum computation relies on the application of controlled phase shift operations on quantum registers. While these operations are generally compromised by noise and imperfections, quantum gates based on geometric phase shifts can provide intrinsically fault-tolerant quantum computing. Here we demonstrate the high-fidelity realization of a recently proposed fast (non-adiabatic) and universal (non-Abelian) holonomic single-qubit gate, using an individual solid-state spin qubit under ambient conditions. This fault-tolerant quantum gate provides an elegant means for achieving the fidelity threshold indispensable for implementing quantum error correction protocols. Since we employ a spin qubit associated with a nitrogen-vacancy colour centre in diamond, this system is based on integrable and scalable hardware exhibiting strong analogy to current silicon technology. This quantum gate realization is a promising step towards viable, fault-tolerant quantum computing under ambient conditions.