Institute for Quantum Optics
Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
- Tracked papers
- 49 (2006–2026)
Topics
The most frequent field-map topics among the PI' tracked papers.
- Spins & NMR 43
- Dynamical decoupling 23
- Sensing 22
- Photonics 7
- Superconducting 3
- Gates 3
- Closed-loop 3
- Robust control 3
Recent papers
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Photoelectrical readout and Ramsey interferometry of single shallowly implanted NV centers in diamond
Abstract
Photoelectrical readout of the electronic spin state of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is attracting significant interest due to the numerous advantages it possesses compared with conventional fluorescence readout. The higher charge carrier rate compared to the photon rate and the integration of the detection scheme on a chip can significantly advance quantum sensing and computing with color centers in diamond. Until now, photoelectric readout has been performed on ensembles of NV centers or single NV centers deep in ultrapure diamond substrates. However, many applications require the artificial creation and precise placement of shallow NV centers, and photoelectric detection of such centers has been challenging. Here we demonstrate photoelectrical readout and coherent control of the electronic spin of implanted shallow ($\sim$10 nm) NV centers buried by diamond overgrowth. The photoelectrically measured Ramsey $T_2^*$ agrees with conventional fluorescence readout and shows no measurable dependence on the readout photocurrent, for both shallow implanted and deep ingrown NV centers. We further find that overgrowth improves photoelectric readout by suppressing the background photocurrent. These results establish photoelectric readout as a viable route to chip-integrated, electrically detected nanoscale sensing and to spin registers based on engineered shallow NV centers.
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Uniform microwave field formation for control of ensembles of negatively charged nitrogen vacancy in diamond
Abstract
The homogeneity of the microwave magnetic field is essential in controlling a large volume of ensemble spins, for example, in the case of sensitive magnetometry with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. This is particularly important for pulsed measurement, where the fidelity of control pulses plays a crucial role in its sensitivity. So far, several magnetic field-forming systems have been proposed, but no detailed comparison has been made. Here, we numerically study the homogeneity of five different systems, including a planar antenna, a dielectric resonator, a cylindrical inductor, a barrel-shaped coil, and a nested barrel-shaped coil. The results of the simulation allowed us to optimize the design parameters of the barrel-shaped field-forming system, which led to significantly improved magnetic field uniformity. To measure this effect, we experimentally compared the homogeneity of a field-forming system having a barrel shape with that of a planar field-forming system by measuring Rabi oscillations of an ensemble of NV centers with them. Significant improvements in inhomogeneity were confirmed in the barrel-shaped coil.
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A Single-Molecule Spin-Photon Interface
Abstract
Optical interfaces that connect long-lived spin qubits to photons are a central requirement for quantum networking and distributed quantum information processing. Currently, solid-state atomic defects are leading candidates due to their inherent spin and optical coherence. Building on these advancements, synthetically tailored molecular systems represent a fundamental change in the field, utilizing precise atomic control and consistent bottom-up assembly. However, the lack of a robust spin-photon interface combining bright fluorescence, high spectral stability, and the persistent spin lifetimes inherent to ground-state systems has prohibited the detection of individual molecular qubits. Here we show that a triplet ground state carbene molecule, embedded within a structurally matched host crystal, functions as a robust spin-photon interface with single-molecule addressability. The system exhibits narrow zero-phonon lines, spectral stability over more than an hour, spin-selective optical transitions and single-molecule optically detected magnetic resonance. Coherent control yields millisecond-scale dynamical-decoupling coherence and tens-of-milliseconds spin relaxation at a temperature of 4.5 K. These results establish molecular qubits as a viable platform for single-emitter quantum optics while preserving the advantages of bottom-up chemical design and processable materials.
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Optimal Two-Qubit Gates for Group-IV Color-Centers in Diamond
Abstract
Color centers associated with group-IV dopants in diamond with long-lived nuclear spins have emerged as major candidates for distributed quantum computing nodes and quantum repeaters. Several proof-of-principle experiments have already been demonstrated. A key operation for long-distance entanglement-distribution protocols are fast and robust gates between the electron spin and a nuclear spin. Here, we investigate numerically for an existing experimental platform of a Germanium-vacancy (GeV) center with a strongly-coupled ${}^{13}$C spin, how such gates can be implemented via quantum optimal control. In the presence of realistic noise we investigate different parameter regimes and gate operations and obtain robust two-qubit gates with fidelities exceeding $99.9 \%$. The framework provides a scalable strategy for group-IV quantum nodes and can be adapted to related architectures.
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Gate Optimization via Efficient Two-Qubit Benchmarking for NV Centers in Diamond
Abstract
High-fidelity gate implementation requires sophisticated control pulses that steer the quantum system to undergo the desired transformation. Quantum Optimal Control allows to derive these control pulses in an open-loop fashion based on numerical simulations. However, their precision can be limited by incomplete knowledge of the system. Closed-loop optimization overcomes this limitation by incorporating feedback from measurements, provided a suitable and efficient measure of the gate performance can be defined. In this article, we present an efficient method to evaluate the performance of a two-qubit gate by preparation and measurement of only two quantum states, enabling experimental closed-loop optimization with a metric previously believed to be limited to open-loop control. We tailor the approach to nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond and, through numerical simulations, demonstrate how the method can optimize a two-qubit gate while reducing the number of required measurements by two orders of magnitude compared to standard process tomography under realistic experimental settings.
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High-resolution wide-field magnetic imaging with sparse sampling using nitrogen-vacancy centers
Abstract
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond enable quantitative magnetic imaging, yet practical implementations must balance spatial resolution against acquisition time (and thus per-pixel sensitivity). Single-NV scanning magnetometry achieves genuine nanoscale resolution, nonetheless requires typically a slow pixel-by-pixel acquisition. Meanwhile, wide-field NV-ensemble microscopy provides parallel readout over a large field of view, however is jointly limited by the optical diffraction limit and the sensor-sample standoff. Here, we present a sparse-sampling strategy for reconstructing high-resolution wide-field images from only a small number of measurements. Using simulated NV-ensemble detection of ac magnetic fields, we show that a mean-adjusted Bayesian estimation (MABE) framework can reconstruct 10000-pixel images from only 25 sampling points, achieving SSIM values exceeding 0.999 for representative smooth field distributions, while optimized dynamical-decoupling pulse sequences yield an approximately twofold improvement in magnetic-field sensitivity. The method further clarifies how sampling patterns and sampling density affect reconstruction accuracy and suggests a route toward faster and more scalable magnetic-imaging architectures that may extend to point-scanning NV sensors and other magnetometry platforms, such as SQUIDs, Hall probes, and magnetic tunnel junctions.
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Room-Temperature Electrical Readout of Spin Defects in van der Waals Materials
Abstract
Negatively charged boron vacancy ($\mathrm{V_B^-}$) in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is the most extensively studied room-temperature quantum spin system in two-dimensional (2D) materials. Nevertheless, the current effective readout of $\mathrm{V_B^-}$ spin states is carried out by systematically optical methods. This limits their exploitation in compact and miniaturized quantum devices, which would otherwise hold substantial promise to address quantum sensing and quantum information tasks. In this study, we demonstrated a photoelectric spin readout technique for $\mathrm{V_B^-}$ spins in hBN. The observed photocurrent signals stem from the spin-dependent ionization dynamics of boron vacancies, mediated by spin-dependent non-radiative transitions to a metastable state. We further extend this electrical detection technique to enable the readout of dynamical decoupling sequences, including the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) protocols, and of nuclear spins via electron-nuclear double resonance. These results provide a pathway toward on-chip integration and real-field exploitation of quantum functionalities based on 2D material platforms.
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Probing Many-Body Phenomena with Atomically Thin Nuclear Spin Layers in Diamond
Abstract
Quantum simulation aims to recreate complex many-body phenomena in controlled environments, offering insights into dynamics that are otherwise difficult to model. Existing platforms, however, are often complex and costly to scale, typically requiring ultra pure vacuum or low temperatures. Here, we introduce a platform based on a thin, strongly interacting ${}^{13}\text{C}$ nuclear spin layer in diamond that allows controlled exploration of many-body dynamics at room temperature. Nearby nitrogen-vacancy centers enable polarization, readout, and, combined with radio-frequency fields, coherent control of the nuclear spins. We demonstrate strong, tunable interactions among the nuclear spins and use the system to probe discrete time-crystalline order across varying interaction ranges. By combining ease of use with operation at ambient temperatures, our work opens new opportunities for investigating strongly correlated many-body effects.
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Robust gigahertz-range ac magnetometry with an ensemble of NV centers in diamond using concatenated continuous dynamical decoupling
Abstract
Sub-picotesla level magnetometry has been demonstrated using negatively-charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond by increasing the number of spins simultaneously used for sensing in an NV ensemble. However, such scale-up often introduces spatial inhomogeneities in detuning and control field amplitudes, which degrade sensitivity. Although several techniques have been utilized to overcome these challenges, including pulsed dynamical decoupling or shaped pulses, these are not generally compatible with the current state-of-the-art techniques for GHz-range AC magnetometry with NV ensembles, which are typically based on Rabi oscillations. In this work we experimentally demonstrate GHz-range AC magnetometry using a large ensemble of NV centers under spatially inhomogeneous drive fields by employing concatenated continuous dynamical decoupling, which is designed for robustness against such imperfections. We compare its performance with the conventional direct Rabi method and show that the robust dressed states in our method extend significantly the measuring range to weaker signals in GHz-range AC magnetometry.
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Efficiency of optimal control for noisy spin qubits in diamond
Abstract
Decoherence is a major challenge for quantum technologies. A way to mitigate its negative impact is by employing quantum optimal control. The decoherence dynamics varies significantly based on the characteristics of the surrounding environment of qubits, consequently affecting the outcome of the control optimization. In this work, we investigate the dependence of the shape of a spin inversion control pulse on the correlation time of the environment noise. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of constraints and optimization options on the optimization outcome and identify a set of strategies that improve the optimization performance. Finally, we present an experimental realization of the numerically-optimized pulses validating the optimization feasibility. Our work serves as a generic yet essential guide to implementing optimal control in the presence of realistic noise, e.g., in nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond.