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Beating the Ramsey limit on sensing with deterministic qubit control

Author

Listed:
  • M. O. Hecht

    (University of Southern California
    University of Southern California)

  • Kumar Saurav

    (University of Southern California
    University of Southern California)

  • Evangelos Vlachos

    (University of Southern California
    University of Southern California)

  • Daniel A. Lidar

    (University of Southern California
    University of Southern California
    University of Southern California
    University of Southern California)

  • Eli M. Levenson-Falk

    (University of Southern California
    University of Southern California
    University of Southern California)

Abstract

Qubit frequency shifts, which often contain information about a target environment variable, are detected with Ramsey interference measurements. Unfortunately, the sensitivity of this protocol is limited by decoherence. We introduce a new protocol to enhance the sensitivity of a qubit frequency measurement in the presence of decoherence by applying a continuous drive to stabilize one component of the Bloch vector. We demonstrate our protocol on a superconducting qubit, enhancing sensitivity per measurement shot by 1.65 × and sensitivity per qubit evolution time by 1.09 × compared to Ramsey. We also explore the protocol theoretically, finding unconditional enhancements compared to Ramsey interferometry and maximum enhancements of 1.96 × and 1.18 × , respectively. Additionally, our protocol is robust to parameter miscalibrations. It requires no feedback and no extra control or measurement resources, and can be immediately applied in a wide variety of quantum computing and quantum sensor technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • M. O. Hecht & Kumar Saurav & Evangelos Vlachos & Daniel A. Lidar & Eli M. Levenson-Falk, 2025. "Beating the Ramsey limit on sensing with deterministic qubit control," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58947-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58947-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. M. D. Shulman & S. P. Harvey & J. M. Nichol & S. D. Bartlett & A. C. Doherty & V. Umansky & A. Yacoby, 2014. "Suppressing qubit dephasing using real-time Hamiltonian estimation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-6, December.
    2. Yink Loong Len & Tuvia Gefen & Alex Retzker & Jan Kołodyński, 2022. "Quantum metrology with imperfect measurements," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Gopalakrishnan Balasubramanian & I. Y. Chan & Roman Kolesov & Mohannad Al-Hmoud & Julia Tisler & Chang Shin & Changdong Kim & Aleksander Wojcik & Philip R. Hemmer & Anke Krueger & Tobias Hanke & Alfre, 2008. "Nanoscale imaging magnetometry with diamond spins under ambient conditions," Nature, Nature, vol. 455(7213), pages 648-651, October.
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