Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1602.06862 · Physical Review Letters

Noise-Resilient Quantum Computing with a Nitrogen-Vacancy Center and Nuclear Spins

Jorge Casanova, Z.-Y. Wang, Martin Bodo Plenio

Published Sep 20, 2016• 47 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Selective control of qubits in a quantum register for the purposes of quantum information processing represents a critical challenge for dense spin ensembles in solid-state systems. Here we present a protocol that achieves a complete set of selective electron-nuclear gates and single nuclear rotations in such an ensemble in diamond facilitated by a nearby nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center. The protocol suppresses internuclear interactions as well as unwanted coupling between the NV center and other spins of the ensemble to achieve quantum gate fidelities well exceeding 99%. Notably, our method can be applied to weakly coupled, distant spins representing a scalable procedure that exploits the exceptional properties of nuclear spins in diamond as robust quantum memories.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.117.130502

Related papers

Optimal control of fast and high-fidelity quantum gates with electron and nuclear spins of a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

Yi Chou, Shang‐Yu Huang, Hsi‐Sheng Goan

A negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond has been recognized as a good solid-state qubit. A system consisting of the electronic spin of the NV center and hyperfine-coupled nitrogen and additionally nearby carbon nuclear spins can form a quantum register of several qubits for quantum information processing or as a node in a quantum repeater. Several impressive experiments on the hybrid electron and nuclear spin register have been reported, but fidelities achieved so far are not yet at or below the thresholds required for fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC). Using quantum optimal control theory based on the Krotov method, we show here that fast and high-fidelity single-qubit and two-qubit gates in the universal quantum gate set for FTQC, taking into account the effects of the leakage state, nearby noise qubits, and distant bath spins, can be achieved with errors less than those required by the threshold theorem of FTQC.

arXiv:1504.06385•Physical Review A•May 15, 2015•40 citations

Coupling-selective quantum optimal control in weak-coupling NV-$$^{13}$$C system

Feihao Zhang, Jian Ping Xing, Xiaoxiao Hu +2 more

Abstract Quantum systems are under various unwanted interactions due to their coupling with the environment. Efficient control of quantum system is essential for quantum information processing. Weak-coupling interactions are ubiquitous, and it is very difficult to suppress them using optimal control method, because the control operation is at a time scale of the coherent life time of the system. Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center of diamond is a promising platform for quantum information processing. The $$^{13}$$ 13 C nuclear spins in the bath are weakly coupled to the NV, rendering the manipulation extremely difficulty. Here, we report a coupling selective optimal control method that selectively suppresses unwanted weak coupling interactions and at the same time greatly prolongs the life time of the wanted quantum system. We applied our theory to a 3 qubit system consisting of one NV electron spin and two $$^{13}$$ 13 C nuclear spins through weak-coupling with the NV center. In the experiments, the iSWAP $$^{\dagger }$$ † gate with selective optimal quantum control is implemented in a time-span of $$T_{ctrl}$$ T ctrl = 170.25 $$\mu$$ μ s, which is comparable to the phase decoherence time $$T_2$$ T 2 = 203 $$\mu s$$ μ s . The two-qubit controlled rotation gate is also completed in a strikingly 1020(80) $$\mu$$ μ s, which is five times of the phase decoherence time. These results could find important applications in the NISQ era.

AAPPS bulletin•Jan 5, 2023•16 citations

Arbitrary nuclear-spin gates in diamond mediated by a nitrogen-vacancy-center electron spin

Jorge Casanova, Z.-Y. Wang, Martin Bodo Plenio

We show that arbitrary $N$-qubit interactions among nuclear spins can be achieved efficiently in solid state quantum platforms, such as nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond, by exerting control only on the electron spin coupled to the nuclei. This allows to exploit nuclear spins as robust quantum registers and the direct measurement of nuclear many-body correlators. The method takes advantage of recently introduced dynamical decoupling techniques and avoids the necessity of external, slow, control on the nuclei. Our protocol is general, being applicable to other nuclear spin-based platforms with electronic spin defects acting as mediators as silicon carbide.

arXiv:1702.05330•Physical Review A•Sep 11, 2017•25 citations

Towards quantum error correction with two-body gates for quantum registers based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

Daniel Dulog, Martin Bodo Plenio

Color centers in diamond provide a possible hardware for quantum computation, where the most basic quantum information processing unit are nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, each in contact with adjacent carbon nuclear spins. With specifically tailored dynamical decoupling sequences, it is possible to execute selective, high-fidelity two-body gates between the electron spin of the NV center and a targeted nuclear spin. In this work, we present a method to determine the optimal execution time that balances the trade-off between fidelity and execution speed for gates generated by adaptive XY sequences. With these optimized gates, we use the nuclear spin environment as a code space for quantum error correction within a color center register.

arXiv:2411.18450•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Feb 5, 2026•0 citations

Quantum information processing with nuclear spins mediated by a weak-mechanically controlled electron spin

Wan-Jun Su, Guang-Zheng Ye, Yadong Wu +2 more

Abstract We propose a scheme to achieve nuclear–nuclear indirect interactions mediated by a mechanically driven nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in a diamond. Here we demonstrate two-qubit entangling gates and quantum-state transfer between two carbon nuclei. When the dipole–dipole interaction strength is much larger than the driving field strength, the scheme is robust against decoherence caused by coupling between the NV center (nuclear spins) and the environment. Conveniently, precise control of dipole coupling is not required so this scheme is insensitive to fluctuating positions of the nuclear spins and the NV center. Our scheme provides a general blueprint for multi-nuclear-spin gates and for multi-party communication.

arXiv:1905.10919•Communications in Theoretical Physics•Feb 21, 2022•1 citation

Quantum Register Based on Individual Electronic and Nuclear Spin Qubits in Diamond

M. V. Gurudev Dutt, Lilian Childress, Liang Jiang +6 more

The key challenge in experimental quantum information science is to identify isolated quantum mechanical systems with long coherence times that can be manipulated and coupled together in a scalable fashion. We describe the coherent manipulation of an individual electron spin and nearby individual nuclear spins to create a controllable quantum register. Using optical and microwave radiation to control an electron spin associated with the nitrogen vacancy (NV) color center in diamond, we demonstrated robust initialization of electron and nuclear spin quantum bits (qubits) and transfer of arbitrary quantum states between them at room temperature. Moreover, nuclear spin qubits could be well isolated from the electron spin, even during optical polarization and measurement of the electronic state. Finally, coherent interactions between individual nuclear spin qubits were observed and their excellent coherence properties were demonstrated. These registers can be used as a basis for scalable, optically coupled quantum information systems.

Science•May 31, 2007•1,286 citations
Selective control of qubits in a quantum register for the purposes of quantum information processing represents a critical challenge for dense spin ensembles in solid-state systems. Here we present a protocol that achieves a complete set of selective electron-nuclear gates and single nuclear rotations in such an ensemble in diamond facilitated by a nearby nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center. The protocol suppresses internuclear interactions as well as unwanted coupling between the NV center and other spins of the ensemble to achieve quantum gate fidelities well exceeding 99%. Notably, our method can be applied to weakly coupled, distant spins representing a scalable procedure that exploits the exceptional properties of nuclear spins in diamond as robust quantum memories.
A negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond has been recognized as a good solid-state qubit. A system consisting of the electronic spin of the NV center and hyperfine-coupled nitrogen and additionally nearby carbon nuclear spins can form a quantum register of several qubits for quantum information processing or as a node in a quantum repeater. Several impressive experiments on the hybrid electron and nuclear spin register have been reported, but fidelities achieved so far are not yet at or below the thresholds required for fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC). Using quantum optimal control theory based on the Krotov method, we show here that fast and high-fidelity single-qubit and two-qubit gates in the universal quantum gate set for FTQC, taking into account the effects of the leakage state, nearby noise qubits, and distant bath spins, can be achieved with errors less than those required by the threshold theorem of FTQC.
Coupling-selective quantum optimal control in weak-coupling NV-13^{13}13C system
Abstract Quantum systems are under various unwanted interactions due to their coupling with the environment. Efficient control of quantum system is essential for quantum information processing. Weak-coupling interactions are ubiquitous, and it is very difficult to suppress them using optimal control method, because the control operation is at a time scale of the coherent life time of the system. Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center of diamond is a promising platform for quantum information processing. The 13^{13}13 13 C nuclear spins in the bath are weakly coupled to the NV, rendering the manipulation extremely difficulty. Here, we report a coupling selective optimal control method that selectively suppresses unwanted weak coupling interactions and at the same time greatly prolongs the life time of the wanted quantum system. We applied our theory to a 3 qubit system consisting of one NV electron spin and two 13^{13}13 13 C nuclear spins through weak-coupling with the NV center. In the experiments, the iSWAP †^{\dagger }† † gate with selective optimal quantum control is implemented in a time-span of TctrlT_{ctrl}Tctrl​ T ctrl = 170.25 μ\muμ μ s, which is comparable to the phase decoherence time T2T_2T2​ T 2 = 203 μs\mu sμs μ s . The two-qubit controlled rotation gate is also completed in a strikingly 1020(80) μ\muμ μ s, which is five times of the phase decoherence time. These results could find important applications in the NISQ era.
We show that arbitrary NNN-qubit interactions among nuclear spins can be achieved efficiently in solid state quantum platforms, such as nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond, by exerting control only on the electron spin coupled to the nuclei. This allows to exploit nuclear spins as robust quantum registers and the direct measurement of nuclear many-body correlators. The method takes advantage of recently introduced dynamical decoupling techniques and avoids the necessity of external, slow, control on the nuclei. Our protocol is general, being applicable to other nuclear spin-based platforms with electronic spin defects acting as mediators as silicon carbide.
Color centers in diamond provide a possible hardware for quantum computation, where the most basic quantum information processing unit are nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, each in contact with adjacent carbon nuclear spins. With specifically tailored dynamical decoupling sequences, it is possible to execute selective, high-fidelity two-body gates between the electron spin of the NV center and a targeted nuclear spin. In this work, we present a method to determine the optimal execution time that balances the trade-off between fidelity and execution speed for gates generated by adaptive XY sequences. With these optimized gates, we use the nuclear spin environment as a code space for quantum error correction within a color center register.
Abstract We propose a scheme to achieve nuclear–nuclear indirect interactions mediated by a mechanically driven nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in a diamond. Here we demonstrate two-qubit entangling gates and quantum-state transfer between two carbon nuclei. When the dipole–dipole interaction strength is much larger than the driving field strength, the scheme is robust against decoherence caused by coupling between the NV center (nuclear spins) and the environment. Conveniently, precise control of dipole coupling is not required so this scheme is insensitive to fluctuating positions of the nuclear spins and the NV center. Our scheme provides a general blueprint for multi-nuclear-spin gates and for multi-party communication.
The key challenge in experimental quantum information science is to identify isolated quantum mechanical systems with long coherence times that can be manipulated and coupled together in a scalable fashion. We describe the coherent manipulation of an individual electron spin and nearby individual nuclear spins to create a controllable quantum register. Using optical and microwave radiation to control an electron spin associated with the nitrogen vacancy (NV) color center in diamond, we demonstrated robust initialization of electron and nuclear spin quantum bits (qubits) and transfer of arbitrary quantum states between them at room temperature. Moreover, nuclear spin qubits could be well isolated from the electron spin, even during optical polarization and measurement of the electronic state. Finally, coherent interactions between individual nuclear spin qubits were observed and their excellent coherence properties were demonstrated. These registers can be used as a basis for scalable, optically coupled quantum information systems.