Measurement of the magnetic interaction between two bound electrons of two separate ions

Addressing Single Nuclear Spins Quantum Memories by a Central Electron Spin

Nuclei surrounding single electron spins are valuable resources for quantum technology. For application in this area, one is often interested in weakly coupled nuclei with coupling strength on the order of a few 10-100 kHz. In this paper, we compare methods to address single nuclear spins with this type of hyperfine coupling to a single electron spin. To achieve the required spectral resolution, we specifically focus on two methods, namely dynamical decoupling and correlation spectroscopy. We demonstrate spectroscopy of two single nuclear spins and present a method to derive components of their hyperfine coupling tensor from those measurements.

Constraints on Theoretical Predictions beyond the Standard Model from the Casimir Effect and Some Other Tabletop Physics

We review the hypothetical interactions predicted beyond the Standard Model which could be constrained by using the results of tabletop laboratory experiments. These interactions are described by the power-type potentials with different powers, Yukawa potential, other spin-independent potentials, and by the spin-dependent potentials of different kinds. In all these cases the current constraints on respective hypothetical interactions are considered which follow from the Casimir effect and some other tabletop physics. The exotic particles and constraints on them are discussed in the context of problems of the quantum vacuum, dark energy, and the cosmological constant.

Single ion qubit with estimated coherence time exceeding one hour

Realizing a long coherence time quantum memory is a major challenge of current quantum technology. Until now, the longest coherence-time of a single qubit was reported as 660 s in a single 171Yb+ ion-qubit through the technical developments of sympathetic cooling and dynamical decoupling pulses, which addressed heating-induced detection inefficiency and magnetic field fluctuations. However, it was not clear what prohibited further enhancement. Here, we identify and suppress the limiting factors, which are the remaining magnetic-field fluctuations, frequency instability and leakage of the microwave reference-oscillator. Then, we observe the coherence time of around 5500 s for the 171Yb+ ion-qubit, which is the time constant of the exponential decay fit from the measurements up to 960 s. We also systematically study the decoherence process of the quantum memory by using quantum process tomography and analyze the results by applying recently developed resource theories of quantum memory and coherence. Our experimental demonstration will accelerate practical applications of quantum memories for various quantum information processing, especially in the noisy-intermediate-scale quantum regime.

Precision Measurement of Atomic Isotope Shifts Using a Two-Isotope Entangled State

Atomic isotope shifts (ISs) are the isotope-dependent energy differences between atomic electron energy levels. These shifts have an important role in atomic and nuclear physics, and have been recently suggested as unique probes of physics beyond the standard model under the condition that they are determined significantly more precisely than the current state of the art. In this Letter, we present a simple and robust method for measuring ISs by taking advantage of Hilbert subspaces that are insensitive to common-mode noise yet sensitive to the IS. Using this method we evaluate the IS of the 5S_{1/2}↔4D_{5/2} transition between ^{86}Sr^{+} and ^{88}Sr^{+} with a 1.6×10^{-11} relative uncertainty to be 570 264 063.435(5)(8) (statistical)(systematic) Hz. Furthermore, we detect a relative difference of 3.46(23)×10^{-8} between the orbital g factors of the electrons in the 4D_{5/2} level of the two isotopes. Our method is relatively easy to implement and is indifferent to element or isotope, paving the way for future tabletop searches for new physics, posing interesting prospects for testing quantum many-body calculations, and for the study of nuclear structure.

Sensing Coherent Dynamics of Electronic Spin Clusters in Solids

We observe coherent spin exchange between identical electronic spins in the solid state, a key step towards full quantum control of electronic spin registers in room temperature solids. In a diamond substrate, a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) center coherently couples to two adjacent S=1/2 dark electron spins via the magnetic dipolar interaction. We quantify NV-electron and electron-electron couplings via detailed spectroscopy, with good agreement to a model of strongly interacting spins. The electron-electron coupling enables an observation of coherent flip-flop dynamics between electronic spins in the solid state, which occur conditionally on the state of the NV. Finally, as a demonstration of coherent control, we selectively couple and transfer polarization between the NV and the pair of electron spins. Our observations enable the realization of fast quantum gate operations and quantum state transfer in a scalable, room temperature, quantum processor.

Probing quantum coherence in single-atom electron spin resonance

Spin resonance of individual spin centers allows applications ranging from quantum information technology to atomic-scale magnetometry. To protect the quantum properties of a spin, control over its local environment, including energy relaxation and decoherence processes, is crucial. However, in most existing architectures, the environment remains fixed by the crystal structure and electrical contacts. Recently, spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), in combination with electron spin resonance (ESR), allowed the study of single adatoms and inter-atomic coupling with an unprecedented combination of spatial and energy resolution. We elucidate and control the interplay of an Fe single spin with its atomic-scale environment by precisely tuning the phase coherence time T₂ using the STM tip as a variable electrode. We find that the decoherence rate is the sum of two main contributions. The first scales linearly with tunnel current and shows that, on average, every tunneling electron causes one dephasing event. The second, effective even without current, arises from thermally activated spin-flip processes of tip spins. Understanding these interactions allows us to maximize T₂ and improve the energy resolution. It also allows us to maximize the amplitude of the ESR signal, which supports measurements even at elevated temperatures as high as 4 K. Thus, ESR-STM allows control of quantum coherence in individual, electrically accessible spins.

Atomic-scale sensing of the magnetic dipolar field from single atoms

Spin resonance provides the high-energy resolution needed to determine biological and material structures by sensing weak magnetic interactions. In recent years, there have been notable achievements in detecting and coherently controlling individual atomic-scale spin centres for sensitive local magnetometry. However, positioning the spin sensor and characterizing spin-spin interactions with sub-nanometre precision have remained outstanding challenges. Here, we use individual Fe atoms as an electron spin resonance (ESR) sensor in a scanning tunnelling microscope to measure the magnetic field emanating from nearby spins with atomic-scale precision. On artificially built assemblies of magnetic atoms (Fe and Co) on a magnesium oxide surface, we measure that the interaction energy between the ESR sensor and an adatom shows an inverse-cube distance dependence (r^-3.01±0.04). This demonstrates that the atoms are predominantly coupled by the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction, which, according to our observations, dominates for atom separations greater than 1 nm. This dipolar sensor can determine the magnetic moments of individual adatoms with high accuracy. The achieved atomic-scale spatial resolution in remote sensing of spins may ultimately allow the structural imaging of individual magnetic molecules, nanostructures and spin-labelled biomolecules.

Entangling two transportable neutral atoms via local spin exchange

To advance quantum information science, physical systems are sought that meet the stringent requirements for creating and preserving quantum entanglement. In atomic physics, robust two-qubit entanglement is typically achieved by strong, long-range interactions in the form of either Coulomb interactions between ions or dipolar interactions between Rydberg atoms. Although such interactions allow fast quantum gates, the interacting atoms must overcome the associated coupling to the environment and cross-talk among qubits. Local interactions, such as those requiring substantial wavefunction overlap, can alleviate these detrimental effects; however, such interactions present a new challenge: to distribute entanglement, qubits must be transported, merged for interaction, and then isolated for storage and subsequent operations. Here we show how, using a mobile optical tweezer, it is possible to prepare and locally entangle two ultracold neutral atoms, and then separate them while preserving their entanglement. Ground-state neutral atom experiments have measured dynamics consistent with spin entanglement, and have detected entanglement with macroscopic observables; we are now able to demonstrate position-resolved two-particle coherence via application of a local gradient and parity measurements. This new entanglement-verification protocol could be applied to arbitrary spin-entangled states of spatially separated atoms. The local entangling operation is achieved via spin-exchange interactions, and quantum tunnelling is used to combine and separate atoms. These techniques provide a framework for dynamically entangling remote qubits via local operations within a large-scale quantum register.

Proposal for High-Fidelity Quantum Simulation Using a Hybrid Dressed State

A fundamental goal of quantum technologies concerns the exploitation of quantum coherent dynamics for the realization of novel quantum applications such as quantum computing, quantum simulation, and quantum metrology. A key challenge on the way towards these goals remains the protection of quantum coherent dynamics from environmental noise. Here, we propose a concept of a hybrid dressed state from a pair of continuously driven systems. It allows sufficiently strong driving fields to suppress the effect of environmental noise while at the same time being insusceptible to both the amplitude and phase noise in the continuous driving fields. This combination of robust features significantly enhances coherence times under realistic conditions and at the same time provides new flexibility in Hamiltonian engineering that otherwise is not achievable. We demonstrate theoretically applications of our scheme for a noise-resistant analog quantum simulation in the well-studied physical systems of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond and of trapped ions. The scheme may also be exploited for quantum computation and quantum metrology.

Magnetic dipolar interaction between correlated triplets created by singlet fission in tetracene crystals

Singlet fission can potentially break the Shockley–Queisser efficiency limit in single-junction solar cells by splitting one photoexcited singlet exciton (S₁) into two triplets (2T₁) in organic semiconductors. A dark multiexciton state has been proposed as the intermediate connecting S₁ to 2T₁. However, the exact nature of this multiexciton state, especially how the doubly excited triplets interact, remains elusive. Here we report a quantitative study on the magnetic dipolar interaction between singlet-fission-induced correlated triplets in tetracene crystals by monitoring quantum beats relevant to the multiexciton sublevels at room temperature. The resonances of multiexciton sublevels approached by tuning an external magnetic field are observed to be avoided, which agrees well with the theoretical predictions considering a magnetic dipolar interaction of ∼0.008 GHz. Our work quantifies the magnetic dipolar interaction in certain organic materials and marks an important step towards understanding the underlying physics of the multiexciton state in singlet fission.

The exact mechanism of singlet fission remains unresolved. Here, Wang et al. report a quantitative measurement of the interaction between singlet-fission-induced correlated triplets in tetracene crystals with quantum beat spectroscopy, indicating the role played by exciton delocalization in singlet fission.

Optimization of magnetophoretic-guided drug delivery to the olfactory region in a human nose model

Magnetophoretic-guided delivery has been shown to be able to improve the olfactory doses. However, due to the complex nasal structure and quick decay of magnetic intensity, precise control of particle motion in the human nose remains a challenge. In this study, an optimization model was developed for magnetophoretic olfactory delivery systems. The performance of the model was evaluated using a baseline device design in an MRI-based human nose geometry. Three key components of the delivery system were examined, which included the particle release position, the front magnet to minimize nasal valve depositions, and the top magnet to attract particles into the olfactory region. Results show that the magnetophoretic olfactory delivery device can be significantly improved by optimizing the product and operational parameters. The olfactory delivery efficiency was increased by 1.5-fold compared to the baseline design. The top magnet height and strength were shown to be the most influential factor in olfactory delivery, followed by the drug release position and the front magnet strength. The optimization framework developed in this study can be easily adapted for the optimization of intranasal drug delivery to other regions such as paranasal sinuses.

Constraints on Exotic Dipole-Dipole Couplings between Electrons at the Micrometer Scale

New constraints on exotic dipole-dipole interactions between electrons at the micrometer scale are established, based on a recent measurement of the magnetic interaction between two trapped 88Sr(+) ions. For light bosons (mass≤0.1  eV) we obtain a 90% confidence interval for an axial-vector-mediated interaction strength of |g(A)(e)g(A)(e)/4πℏc|≤1.2×10(-17). Assuming CPT invariance, this constraint is compared to that on anomalous electron-positron interactions, derived from positronium hyperfine spectroscopy. We find that the electron-electron constraint is 6 orders of magnitude more stringent than the electron-positron counterpart. Bounds on pseudoscalar-mediated interaction as well as on torsion gravity are also derived and compared with previous work performed at different length scales. Our constraints benefit from the high controllability of the experimental system which contained only two trapped particles. It therefore suggests a useful new platform for exotic particle searches, complementing other experimental efforts.

Probing long-range carrier-pair spin-spin interactions in a conjugated polymer by detuning of electrically detected spin beating

Weakly coupled electron spin pairs that experience weak spin-orbit interaction can control electronic transitions in molecular and solid-state systems. Known to determine radical pair reactions, they have been invoked to explain phenomena ranging from avian magnetoreception to spin-dependent charge-carrier recombination and transport. Spin pairs exhibit persistent spin coherence, allowing minute magnetic fields to perturb spin precession and thus recombination rates and photoreaction yields, giving rise to a range of magneto-optoelectronic effects in devices. Little is known, however, about interparticle magnetic interactions within such pairs. Here we present pulsed electrically detected electron spin resonance experiments on poly(styrene-sulfonate)-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (

PEDOT

PSS) devices, which show how interparticle spin-spin interactions (magnetic-dipolar and spin-exchange) between charge-carrier spin pairs can be probed through the detuning of spin-Rabi oscillations. The deviation from uncoupled precession frequencies quantifies both the exchange (<30 neV) and dipolar (23.5±1.5 neV) interaction energies responsible for the pair's zero-field splitting, implying quantum mechanical entanglement of charge-carrier spins over distances of 2.1±0.1 nm.

Open-system dynamics of entanglement: a key issues review

One of the greatest challenges in the fields of quantum information processing and quantum technologies is the detailed coherent control over each and every constituent of quantum systems with an ever increasing number of particles. Within this endeavor, harnessing of many-body entanglement against the detrimental effects of the environment is a major pressing issue. Besides being an important concept from a fundamental standpoint, entanglement has been recognized as a crucial resource for quantum speed-ups or performance enhancements over classical methods. Understanding and controlling many-body entanglement in open systems may have strong implications in quantum computing, quantum simulations of many-body systems, secure quantum communication or cryptography, quantum metrology, our understanding of the quantum-to-classical transition, and other important questions of quantum foundations.In this paper we present an overview of recent theoretical and experimental efforts to underpin the dynamics of entanglement under the influence of noise. Entanglement is thus taken as a dynamic quantity on its own, and we survey how it evolves due to the unavoidable interaction of the entangled system with its surroundings. We analyze several scenarios, corresponding to different families of states and environments, which render a very rich diversity of dynamical behaviors.In contrast to single-particle quantities, like populations and coherences, which typically vanish only asymptotically in time, entanglement may disappear at a finite time. In addition, important classes of entanglement display an exponential decay with the number of particles when subject to local noise, which poses yet another threat to the already-challenging scaling of quantum technologies. Other classes, however, turn out to be extremely robust against local noise. Theoretical results and recent experiments regarding the difference between local and global decoherence are summarized. Control and robustness-enhancement techniques, scaling laws, statistical and geometrical aspects of multipartite-entanglement decay are also reviewed; all in order to give a broad picture of entanglement dynamics in open quantum systems addressed to both theorists and experimentalists inside and outside the field of quantum information.