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arXiv:2509.22107 · Physical Review A

Quantum gates via dynamical decoupling of a central qubit on IBMQ and N 15 -vacancy centers in diamond

Lucas Tsunaki, Michael Dotan, Kseniia Volkova, Boris Naydenov

Published Mar 9, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We demonstrate a hardware-agnostic protocol for realizing fast, high-fidelity gates through dynamical decoupling (DD) pulse sequences applied to a central qubit coupled to target qubits. The target qubits are controlled by leveraging their intrinsic interaction with the central qubit, eliminating the need for slow, error-prone direct control. We develop and implement the DD-gate protocol within two distinct frameworks: a general model with minimal assumptions, benchmarked on a gate-based digital quantum simulator given by the IBM quantum (IBMQ) platforms; and an experimentally realistic case with a N 15 -vacancy center ( NV 15 ) in diamond. Using IBMQ, we are able to elucidate the underlying quantum dynamics of the DD gates and test them, independently of experimental constraints. For NV 15 , we realize the protocol considering system-specific properties, which could represent a significant reduction in gate duration and improved technological scalability compared with current dynamical-decoupling-based control. We also propose a simple application for high-efficiency polarization of the N 15 nuclear spin that could potentially be less technically demanding than current methods. Altogether, this work provides a robust strategy for quantum control that can be implemented in arbitrary systems fitting the central-target qubit architecture. Beyond these results, our open-source simulations and implementations for both platforms provide a practical framework for simulating time-dependent qubit dynamics on noisy intermediate-scale quantum era gate-based quantum processors.

DOI
10.1103/6st7-qh12

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We demonstrate a hardware-agnostic protocol for realizing fast, high-fidelity gates through dynamical decoupling (DD) pulse sequences applied to a central qubit coupled to target qubits. The target qubits are controlled by leveraging their intrinsic interaction with the central qubit, eliminating the need for slow, error-prone direct control. We develop and implement the DD-gate protocol within two distinct frameworks: a general model with minimal assumptions, benchmarked on a gate-based digital quantum simulator given by the IBM quantum (IBMQ) platforms; and an experimentally realistic case with a N 15 -vacancy center ( NV 15 ) in diamond. Using IBMQ, we are able to elucidate the underlying quantum dynamics of the DD gates and test them, independently of experimental constraints. For NV 15 , we realize the protocol considering system-specific properties, which could represent a significant reduction in gate duration and improved technological scalability compared with current dynamical-decoupling-based control. We also propose a simple application for high-efficiency polarization of the N 15 nuclear spin that could potentially be less technically demanding than current methods. Altogether, this work provides a robust strategy for quantum control that can be implemented in arbitrary systems fitting the central-target qubit architecture. Beyond these results, our open-source simulations and implementations for both platforms provide a practical framework for simulating time-dependent qubit dynamics on noisy intermediate-scale quantum era gate-based quantum processors.
We demonstrate a hardware-agnostic protocol for realizing fast, high-fidelity gates through dynamical decoupling (DD) pulse sequences applied to a central qubit coupled to target qubits. The target qubits are controlled by leveraging their intrinsic interaction with the central qubit, eliminating the need for slow, error-prone direct control. We develop and implement the DD-gate protocol within two distinct frameworks: a general model with minimal assumptions, benchmarked on a gate-based digital quantum simulator given by the IBM quantum (IBMQ) platforms; and an experimentally realistic case with a 15N-vacancy center (15NV) in diamond. Using IBMQ, we are able to elucidate the underlying quantum dynamics of the DD gates and test them, independently of experimental constraints. For 15NV, we realize the protocol considering system-specific properties, which could represent a significant reduction in gate duration and improved technological scalability compared with current dynamical-decoupling-based control. We also propose a simple application for high-efficiency polarization of the 15N nuclear spin that could potentially be less technically demanding than current methods. Altogether, this work provides a robust strategy for quantum control that can be implemented in arbitrary systems fitting the central-target qubit architecture. Beyond these results, our open-source simulations and implementations for both platforms provide a practical framework for simulating time-dependent qubit dynamics on noisy intermediate-scale quantum era gate-based quantum processors.
Dynamical decoupling (DD) is a powerful method for controlling arbitrary open quantum systems. In quantum spin control, DD generally involves a sequence of timed spin flips (π rotations) arranged to either average out or selectively enhance coupling to the environment. Experimentally, errors in the spin flips are inevitably introduced, motivating efforts to optimize error-robust DD. Here we invert this paradigm: by introducing particular control "errors" in standard DD, namely, a small constant deviation from perfect π rotations (pulse adjustments), we show we obtain protocols that retain the advantages of DD while introducing the capabilities of quantum state readout and polarization transfer. We exploit this nuclear quantum state selectivity on an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond to efficiently polarize the ^{13}C quantum bath. The underlying physical mechanism is generic and paves the way to systematic engineering of pulse-adjusted protocols with nuclear state selectivity for quantum control applications.
Dephasing--phase randomization of a quantum superposition state--is a major obstacle for the realization of high fidelity quantum logic operations. Here, we implement a two-qubit controlled-NOT gate using dynamical decoupling (DD), despite the gate time being more than 1 order of magnitude longer than the intrinsic coherence time of the system. For realizing this universal conditional quantum gate, we have devised a concatenated DD sequence that ensures robustness against imperfections of DD pulses that otherwise may destroy quantum information or interfere with gate dynamics. We compare its performance with three other types of DD sequences. These experiments are carried out using a well-controlled prototype quantum system--trapped atomic ions coupled by an effective spin-spin interaction. The scheme for protecting conditional quantum gates demonstrated here is applicable to other physical systems, such as nitrogen vacancy centers, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance, and circuit quantum electrodynamics.
Solid-state quantum registers consisting of optically active electron spins with nearby nuclear spins are promising building blocks for future quantum technologies. For electron spin-1 registers, dynamical decoupling (DD) quantum gates have been developed that enable the precise control of multiple nuclear spin qubits. However, for the important class of electron spin- 1 / 2 systems, this control method suffers from intrinsic selectivity limitations, resulting in reduced nuclear spin gate fidelities. Here, we demonstrate improved control of single nuclear spins by an electron spin- 1 / 2 using dynamically decoupled radio-frequency (DDRF) gates. We make use of the electron spin- 1 / 2 of a diamond tin-vacancy center, showing high-fidelity single-qubit gates, single-shot readout, and spin coherence beyond a millisecond. The DD control is used as a benchmark to observe and control a single 3 1 C nuclear spin. Using the DDRF control method, we demonstrate improved control on that spin. In addition, we find and control an additional nuclear spin that is insensitive to the DD control method. Using these DDRF gates, we show entanglement between the electron and the nuclear spin with 72(3)% state fidelity. Our extensive simulations indicate that DDRF gate fidelities well in excess are feasible. Finally, we employ time-resolved photon detection during readout to quantify the hyperfine coupling for the electron’s optically excited state. Our work provides key insights into the challenges and opportunities for nuclear spin control in electron spin- 1 / 2 systems, opening the door to multiqubit experiments on these promising qubit platforms.
Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond provide room-temperature electron-nuclear spin registers for quantum sensing and quantum information processing, with surrounding 13C nuclear spins serving as long-lived quantum memories. However, coherent control of large nuclear-spin registers is limited by finite electron-spin coherence and spectral addressability. Existing approaches follow two complementary strategies: dynamical-decoupling (DD) gates exploit filter-function resonances to realize selective conditional evolution but permit only discrete rotation angles, whereas dynamical-decoupling radio-frequency (DDrf) control restores continuous tunability at the cost of stringent hyperfine-geometry and RF-power requirements. Here, we introduce hybrid dynamical-decoupling and radio-frequency (H-DDrf) control, which preserves the DD-induced conditional evolution and employs a geometrically phase-matched RF drive to complete the target operation. This approach reduces both RF power and gate duration while maintaining high-fidelity control, thereby expanding the accessible 13C nuclear-spin register for room-temperature NV-based quantum memories and quantum processors.
We analyze the implementation of high-fidelity, phonon-mediated gate operations and quantum simulation schemes for spin qubits associated with silicon vacancy centers in diamond. Specifically, we show how the application of continuous dynamical decoupling techniques can substantially boost the coherence of the qubit states while increasing at the same time the variety of effective spin models that can be implemented in this way. Based on realistic models and detailed numerical simulations, we demonstrate that this decoupling technique can suppress gate errors by more than two orders of magnitude and enable gate infidelities below $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ for experimentally relevant noise parameters. Therefore, when generalized to phononic lattices with arrays of implanted defect centers, this approach offers a realistic path toward moderate- and large-scale quantum devices with spins and phonons at a level of control that is competitive with other leading quantum-technology platforms.