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arXiv:1011.6243 · Physical Review A

Optimal pulse spacing for dynamical decoupling in the presence of a purely dephasing spin bath

Ashok Ajoy, Gonzalo A. Álvarez, Dieter Suter

Published Mar 8, 2011• 116 citations
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Abstract

Maintaining quantum coherence is a crucial requirement for quantum computation; hence protecting quantum systems against their irreversible corruption due to environmental noise is an important open problem. Dynamical decoupling (DD) is an effective method for reducing decoherence with a low control overhead. It also plays an important role in quantum metrology, where, for instance, it is employed in multiparameter estimation. While a sequence of equidistant control pulses [the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence] has been ubiquitously used for decoupling, Uhrig recently proposed that a nonequidistant pulse sequence [the Uhrig dynamic decoupling (UDD) sequence] may enhance DD performance, especially for systems where the spectral density of the environment has a sharp frequency cutoff. On the other hand, equidistant sequences outperform UDD for soft cutoffs. The relative advantage provided by UDD for intermediate regimes is not clear. In this paper, we analyze the relative DD performance in this regime experimentally, using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. Our system qubits are $^{13}\mathrm{C}$ nuclear spins and the environment consists of a $^{1}\mathrm{H}$ nuclear spin bath whose spectral density is close to a normal (Gaussian) distribution. We find that in the presence of such a bath, the CPMG sequence outperforms the UDD sequence. An analogy between dynamical decoupling and interference effects in optics provides an intuitive explanation as to why the CPMG sequence performs better than any nonequidistant DD sequence in the presence of this kind of environmental noise.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.83.032303

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Maintaining quantum coherence is a crucial requirement for quantum computation; hence protecting quantum systems against their irreversible corruption due to environmental noise is an important open problem. Dynamical decoupling (DD) is an effective method for reducing decoherence with a low control overhead. It also plays an important role in quantum metrology, where, for instance, it is employed in multiparameter estimation. While a sequence of equidistant control pulses [the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence] has been ubiquitously used for decoupling, Uhrig recently proposed that a nonequidistant pulse sequence [the Uhrig dynamic decoupling (UDD) sequence] may enhance DD performance, especially for systems where the spectral density of the environment has a sharp frequency cutoff. On the other hand, equidistant sequences outperform UDD for soft cutoffs. The relative advantage provided by UDD for intermediate regimes is not clear. In this paper, we analyze the relative DD performance in this regime experimentally, using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. Our system qubits are 13C^{13}\mathrm{C}13C nuclear spins and the environment consists of a 1H^{1}\mathrm{H}1H nuclear spin bath whose spectral density is close to a normal (Gaussian) distribution. We find that in the presence of such a bath, the CPMG sequence outperforms the UDD sequence. An analogy between dynamical decoupling and interference effects in optics provides an intuitive explanation as to why the CPMG sequence performs better than any nonequidistant DD sequence in the presence of this kind of environmental noise.
Abstract Dynamical decoupling (DD) is a quantum error-mitigation technique based on applying sequences of control pulses to suppress decoherence. Here we perform a numerical study to compare different DD protocols, namely Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG), Periodic Dynamical Decoupling (PDD), Concatenated Dynamical Decoupling (CDD) and Uhrig Dynamical Decoupling (UDD) applied to three commonly used noise power spectral densities: (i) white, (ii) 1/f, (iii) 1/f 2 and their hybrid combinations. By ignoring qubit relaxation, we simulate these protocols focusing purely on dephasing noise. We then consider independent multi-axial noise with uniaxial control pulses. The effective coherence times T2,eff are extracted for each case and compared with the baseline free induction decay T ∗ 2 [6]. In all these simulations, the time-domain decoherence profiles follow a stretched exponential form ∼ exp −(t/T2,eff) β with the effective coherence times dependent on the noise spectrum considered, the strength of the noise, and the DD sequence employed. An exception is observed for the UDD under specific noise conditions where it cannot be described by a simple stretched exponential decay form.
Dynamical decoupling (DD) emerges as a promising tool to suppress decoherence of quantum systems by eliminating the system-environment coupling. We investigate its power in combating pure dephasing of a qubit under random classical noise. Interestingly, the decoherence rate can be viewed as the interplay between noise spectrum and a controllable filter function. More specifically, the filter function is determined by the DD sequence we employed. Here we take Uhrig DD (UDD) as a benchmark sequence to illustrate the filtering process. We find that UDD sequence works as a perfect dynamical filter for low-frequency noise. For spectrum with hard cutoff, UDD increases the performance order by order with linearly increased number of pulses. However, for noise spectrum with soft cutoff, the required pulse number grows exponentially.
In quantum information processing, it is vital to protect the coherence of qubits in noisy environments. Dynamical decoupling (DD), which applies a sequence of flips on qubits and averages the qubit-environment coupling to zero, is a promising strategy compatible with other desired functionalities, such as quantum gates. Here, we review the recent progresses in theories of dynamical decoupling and experimental demonstrations. We give both semiclassical and quantum descriptions of the qubit decoherence due to coupling to noisy environments. Based on the quantum picture, a geometrical interpretation of DD is presented. The periodic Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill DD and the concatenated DD are reviewed, followed by a detailed exploration of the recently developed Uhrig DD, which employs the least number of pulses in an unequally spaced sequence to suppress the qubit-environment coupling to a given order of the evolution time. Some new developments and perspectives are also discussed.
We study the suppression of qubit dephasing through Uhrig dynamical decoupling (UDD) in nontrivial environments modeled within the spin-boson formalism. In particular, we address the case of (i) a qubit coupled to a bosonic bath with power-law spectral density, and (ii) a qubit coupled to a single harmonic oscillator that dissipates energy into a bosonic bath, which embodies an example of a structured bath for the qubit. We then model the influence of random time jitter in the UDD protocol by sorting pulse-application times from Gaussian distributions centered at appropriate values dictated by the optimal protocol. In case (i) we find that, when few pulses are applied and a sharp cutoff is considered, longer coherence times and robust UDD performances (against random timing errors) are achieved for a super-Ohmic bath. On the other hand, when an exponential cutoff is considered, a super-Ohmic bath is undesirable. In case (ii) the best scenario is obtained for an overdamped harmonic motion. Our study provides relevant information for the implementation of optimized schemes for the protection of quantum states from decoherence.
Abstract In the recent past, many dynamic decoupling sequences have been proposed for the suppression of decoherence of spins connected to thermal baths of various natures. Dynamic decoupling schemes for suppressing decoherence due to Gaussian diffusion have also been developed. In this work, we study the relative performances of dynamic decoupling schemes in the presence of a non-stationary Gaussian noise such as a 1D random walk. Frequency domain analysis is not suitable to determine the performances of various dynamic decoupling schemes in suppressing decoherence due to such a process. Thus, in this work, we follow a time domain calculation to arrive at the following conclusions: in the presence of such a noise, we show that (i) the traditional Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) sequence outperforms Uhrig’s dynamic decoupling scheme, (ii) CPMG remains the optimal sequence for suppression of decoherence due to random walk in the presence of an external field gradient. Later, the theoretical predictions are experimentally verified by using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy on spin 1/2 particles diffusing in a liquid medium.
We analyze the suppression of decoherence by means of dynamical decoupling in the pure-dephasing spin-boson model for baths with power law spectra. The sequence of ideal $\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses is optimized according to the power of the bath. We expand the decoherence function and separate the canceling divergences from the relevant terms. The proposed sequence is chosen to be the one minimizing the decoherence function. By construction, it provides the best performance. We analytically derive the conditions that must be satisfied. The resulting equations are solved numerically. The solutions are very close to the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequence for a soft cutoff of the bath while they approach the Uhrig dynamical-decoupling sequence as the cutoff becomes harder.